MEMORIAL. 


BAMHUIL    W3BBSTIBIR 


MEMORIAL 


OF 


DANIEL   WEBSTER, 


VROM 


THE   CITY   OF  BOSTON. 


BOSTON: 

LITTLE,    BROWN    AND     COMPANY. 
1853. 


Entered  according  to   Act  of   Congress,  in   the   year  1853,  by 

LITTLE,  BROWN  AND  COMPANY, 
in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


RIVERSIDE,  CAMBRIDGE: 
PRINTED  BY  H.  O.  HOUGHTON  AND  COMPANY. 


STEREOTYPED   BY    STONE  AND    SMART. 


r  LIBRARY 

JJMVERSrrY  OF  CALIFORNt 
SANTA  BARBARA 


PREFACE. 


THE  death  of  Mr.  Webster,  mourned  throughout  the 
whole  country  as  a  great  national  loss,  fell  with  pecu- 
liar weight  upon  the  community  among  whom  he  had 
so  long  lived ;  and  the  expressions  of  feeling  which 
followed  were  proportionately  numerous  and  emphatic. 
The  object  of  the  present  volume  is  to  gather  up  and 
preserve,  in  a  permanent  form,  the  various  testimonials 
of  respect  to  his  memory  which  were  called  forth  in 
Boston,  whether  by  the  City  Government,  or  the  vari- 
ous Associations  of  the  citizens  themselves.  It  was 
supposed  that  such  a  collection  would  be  valued  and 
cherished  by  the  people  of  Boston  and  its  vicinity, 
and  not  without  interest  to  the  community  generally. 
The  task  of  the  editor  has  been  little  more  than  that 
of  selection  and  arrangement  The  account  of  the  ill- 
ness and  death  of  Mr.  Webster  was  drawn  up  by 
Mr.  Ticknor,  from  notes  and  memoranda  taken  at 

Marshfield  at  the  time. 

o.  s.  H. 

BOSTOX,  December,  1852. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

MR.  WEBSTER'S  LAST  AUTUMN  AT  MARSHFIELD     ....  1 

ILLNESS  AND  DEATH 13 

PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  CITY  COUNCIL. 

Proceedings  in  the  Board  of  Mayor  and  Aldermen     .     .  29 

Proceedings  in  the  Common  Council 33 

PROCEEDINGS  IN  THE  COURT  OP  COMMON  PLEAS   ....  39 

MEETING  AT  FANEUIL  HALL 45 

PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE    CIRCUIT    COURT    OF   THE   UNITED 

STATES   FOR  THE   DISTRICT   OF  MASSACHUSETTS     ...  73 

PROCEEDINGS  IN  THE  SUPREME  JUDICIAL  COURT  OF  MAS- 
SACHUSETTS       123 

PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOSTON  SCHOOL  COMMITTEE    .     .     .  137 

PROCEEDINGS  AND   EESOLUTIONS   OF  VARIOUS  ASSOCIA- 
TIONS. 

Proceedings  of  the  Webster  Executive  Committee .     .     .  159 

Proceedings  of  the  Whig  Ward  and  County  Convention  161 

Proceedings  of  Granite  Club,  No.  1 163 

Proceedings  of  the  Webster  Under- Voters 167 

Meeting  of  the  Boston  Merchants 169 

Proceedings  of  the  Board  of  Brokers 171 

Proceedings  of  the  Mercantile  Library  Association       .     .  173 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 

Proceedings  of  the  Mechanic  Apprentices  Library  Asso- 
ciation     175 

Proceedings  of  Massachusetts  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  177 

Orders  of  the  Governor  of  Massachusetts 181 

Proceedings  of  the  Bunker  Hill  Monument  Association  183 
Proceedings  of  the  Massachusetts    Charitable  Mechanics' 

Association 185 

Proceedings  of  the  Boston  Marine  Society 187 

Proceedings  of  the  Sons  of  New  Hampshire       ....  189 
Proceedings  of  the  President  and  Fellows  of  Harvard 

College       191 

Proceedings  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society    .     .193 
Proceedings  of  the   American    Academy    of  Arts    and 

Sciences     .     . 195 

FUNERAL 201 

PROCESSION  AND  SERVICES  ox   THE   THIRTIETH   OF  NO- 
VEMBER     217 

EULOGY  .  .231 


ME,  WEBSTER'S 
LAST   AUTUMN  AT   MAESHFIELD. 


THE  following  article,  written  by  Professor  FELTOX,  appeared  in  the 
Boston  Courier  of  October  20.  It  was  prompted  by  a  presentiment  in 
the  mind  of  the  writer  that  the  illness,  under  which  Mr.  Webster  had 
been  long  laboring,  must  terminate  fatally,  and  by  a  wish  to  prepare  the 
public  for  the  great  loss  that  was  so  soon  to  fall  upon  them.  On  this 
account,  as  well  as  from  its  appropriate  tone  of  thought  and  feeling,  it  is 
here  republished. 


MR.    WEBSTER'S 
LAST    AUTUMN    AT  MARSHFIELD 


THE  illness,  under  which  Mr.  Webster  haa  suffered 
at  Marshfield,  has  excited  serious  alarm.  The  loss  of 
this  eminent  and  illustrious  statesman  at  the  present 
moment  would  not  only  be  a  heavy  calamity  to  the 
great  interests  of  the  country,  but  would  strike  the 
national  heart  with  unspeakable  sorrow.  At  his  age? 
the  disease,  which  has  greatly  impaired  his  physical 
strength,  could  but  excite  sad  forebodings  of  the  result. 
At  all  events,  the  day  cannot  be  far  distant  when  that 
comprehensive  wisdom  and  consummate  genius  will  be 
taken  away  from  us,  in  the  ordinary  course  of  the  life 
of  man.  There  is  now,  however,  reason  to  think  that 
repose,  and  the  invigorating  breath  of  sea  and  land  at 
Marshfield,  will  restore  the  health  of  the  great  Secre- 
tary, and  send  him,  in  due  time,  back  to  his  post  in 
Washington,  to  close  the  important  questions  still  pend- 
ing between  our  government  and  foreign  countries.  A 
few  weeks  longer,  passed  in  the  midst  of  the  beloved 
scenes  to  which  Mr.  Webster  has  for  so  many  years 
delighted  to  withdraw  from  the  cares  of  public  and 
professional  life,  will,  it  is  earnestly  hoped,  carry  him 


4  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

safely  through  this  annual  attack,  and  strengthen  his 
'heart  for  another  winter  of  strenuous  toil  in  the  ser- 
vice of  his  country.  We  can  ill  spare  Mr.  Webster  at 
any  time ;  but,  at  the  present  hour,  his  luminous  intel- 
lect and  commanding  statesmanship,  and  his  influence, 
potent  for  his  country's  good  throughout  the  world,  are 
needed  in  no  common  measure.  Let  us  pray  God  that 
his  life  may  still  be  spared,  to  meet  and  overcome  the 
pressing  urgency  of  our  foreign  affairs,  and  to  shed 
upon  us  the  light  of  his  calm  wisdom,  for  many  years 
to  come.  Whether  in  office  or  out  of  office,  the  know- 
ledge that  Mr.  Webster  is  still  among  us  strengthens 
our  confidence  that  all  will  be  well  with  the  country. 
We  know  that  we  can  still  trust  in  the  powers  of  an 
intellect  that  never  fell  below  the  requirements  of  the 
most  critical  occasion,  and  a  patriotism  that  never 
shrunk  from  any  labor  or  any  sacrifice,  which  the  su- 
preme good  of  the  country  demanded.  We  have  seen 
him  defend  the  Constitution,  with  logic  and  eloquence 
never  equalled  in  parliamentary  history,  when  the  admi- 
ration and  applause  of  the  world  rewarded  the  great 
achievement.  But  this  is  not  the  hardest  task  to  per- 
form, nor  the  highest  claim  to  a  nation's  gratitude.  It 
is  a  nobler  duty  of  patriotism  to  save  the  country  from 
itself;  to  protect  it  from  the  excess  of  excited  feelings, 
and  passions  overwrought;  to  step  in  between  contend- 
ing frenzies,  and  arrest  their  heady  course  before  they 
grapple  in  a  struggle  to  the  death ;  to  expose  one's 
self  to  heavy  blows  on  either  side ;  to  fall,  it  may  be, 
between  the  exasperated  parties,  and,  at  the  risk  of 
temporarily  losing  every  object  of  personal  desire,  to 
rescue  the  commonweal.  And  this  lofty  duty  of  pa- 


LAST   AUTUMN   AT   MARSHFIELD.  O 

triotism  becomes  severer  when  the  excesses  of  che- 
rished sentiments  of  philanthropy  are  to  be  rebuked, ' 
and  the  resentments  of  warm-hearted,  philanthropic  men 
and  parties  are  to  be  encountered  in  checking  their 
headlong  race,  before  the  safety  of  the  country  is  fatally 
imperilled.  The  leading  passion  of  our  age,  and  of 
this  part  of  the  country,  is  enthusiastic  devotion  to 
the  idea  of  the  universal  rights  and  the  brotherhood 
of  man.  We  are  not  content  to  bide  the  slow  course 
of  time ;  but  rush,  with  fierce  philanthropy,  to  the 
overthrow  of  institutions  inconsistent  with  these  ideas, 
—  running  every  hazard,  and  trampling  down  every 
obstacle,  however  deeply  rooted,  that  lies  in  the  way 
of  the  immediate  accomplishment  of  our  generous  de- 
sires. We  despise  the  wisdom  of  the  parable  of  the 
Tares  and  the  Wheat ;  we  insist  on  plucking  out  the 
one,  even  at  the  risk  of  destroying  the  other.  We 
chafe  impatiently  at  the  restraints  which  the  Consti- 
tution lays  upon  us,  and  which  seem  to  forbid  our 
eager  aspirations  to  right  a  theoretic  wrong.  We 
struggle  against  its  requirements,  and  seek,  in  fine- 
spun reasoning,  the  pretext  on  which  we  may  break 
the  guaranties  our  fathers  undoubtedly  meant  in  good 
faith  to  establish.  This  has  been  the  tendency  of  the 
abolition  and  the  anti-slavery  movement  at  the  North. 
The  danger  that  sentiments,  in  themselves  just,  and 
flowing  from  deep  sources  in  the  human  heart,  may 
overstep  the  bounds  of  constitutional  action,  has  long 
been  a  cause  of  anxiety  among  men,  on  whom  the 
burden  of  sustaining  the  government  of  the  country 
rests.  The  influence  of  Mr.  Webster's  genius  carries 
with  it  a  heavy  responsibility,  as  to  the  direction  in 


6  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

which  that  influence  shall  be  exerted.  Ordinary  men 
may  ride  their  hobbies,  and  the  world  look  on  with 
indifference  ;  they  may  declaim  commonplaces  of  sen- 
timental philanthropy,  with  all  the  comfort  of  knowing 
that  the  course  of  events  will  not  be  in  the  least 
affected  thereby ;  they  gain  with  their  partisans  all 
the  honors  of  devotion  to  a  great  cause,  with  no  fear 
of  hazardous  consequences  resulting  from  the  utter- 
ance of  extreme  or  fanatical  opinions. 

But  this  cheap  philanthropy  of  phrases  and  rheto- 
rical commonplace  is  an  indulgence  which  men,  placed 
by  intellect  or  position  at  the  head  of  affairs,  cannot 
safely  indulge  in.  The  strong  tendency  of  generous 
sentiment,  when  not  restrained  by  prudence,  to  over- 
ride the  prescriptive  rights  secured  by  constitutions 
and  compacts,  the  great  statesman  and  guide  of  men 
must  sternly  resist,  even  if  resistance  expose  him  to 
slander  and  vituperation,  to  the  distrust  of  former 
friends,  to  the  misunderstanding  of  his  motives,  to  the 
charge  of  being  a  traitor  to  principles  which  his  whole 
life  has  pledged  him  to  uphold.  Such  crises,  requir- 
ing the  highest  order  of  statesmanship  and  a  moral 
courage  that  shrinks  from  no  personal  sacrifice  for  the 
general  good,  —  periods  when  reipublicce  salus  est  su- 
prema  lex,  —  arise  in  the  history  of  every  great  nation ; 
and  woe  to  that  nation  which  has  not  the  men  of  civic 
virtue  equal  to  the  peril  of  the  time.  This  test  of 
greatness  and  statesmanship  Mr.  Webster  has  nobly 
dared  to  stand ;  and  he  has  reaped  the  consequences 
of  calumny  and  vehement  attack,  made  with  an  un- 
scrupulous disregard  of  truth,  a  ruthless  contempt  of 
the  decencies  of  controversy,  in  proportion  to  the  great- 


LAST   AUTUMN   AT   MARSHFIELD.  7 

ness  of  the  service,  and  the  ardor  of  the  philanthropic 
passions  whose  mad  career  he  has  helped  to  arrest. 
The  violence  of  the  storm  is  passed ;  the  weight  of 
character  and  intelligence  in  the  country  is  on  his 
side ;  the  verdict  of  approval  has  been  pronounced 
by  a  vast  majority  of  the  calm  and  clear-headed  citi- 
zens of  the  United  States.  Thousands,  who  thought 
him  wrong  at  first,  now  see  that  he  was  right,  and 
heartily  acknowledge  the  debt  01  gratitude  they  owe 
to  his  firmness  and  sagacious  forecast.  The  union  of 
the  States,  having  been  on  both  sides  rudely  assailed, 
is  again  consolidated.  Hostile  and  incongruous  fana- 
ticisms may  beset  the  CONSERVATOR  on  this  side  and 
on  that.  He  has  measured  their  force,  breasted  their 
onset,  and  foiled  their  purposes  of  mischief.  Both 
great  parties  of  the  country  have  vindicated  his  wis- 
dom, by  acquiescing  in  the  patriotic  course  marked 
out  by  his  far-seeing  policy,  for  the  settlement  of  the 
most  dangerous  question  that  ever  menaced  the  wel- 
fare of  the  nation.  A  vindictive  philanthropy,  here 
and  there  and  from  time  to  time,  reopens  the  flood- 
gates of  slander,  in  the  vain  hope  of  disturbing  the 
great  statesman's  repose.  The  firm  earth  does  not 
stand  with  more  unshaken  solidity  against  the  raving 
sea,  as  it  roars  and  beats  upon  his  Marshfield  beach, 
than  he  stands  unmoved  in  the  magnanimity  of  his 
character,  and  the  upholding  power  of  conscious  recti- 
tude, looking  down  upon  the  ignominious  efforts  of 
foiled  enemies  to  undermine  the  grandeur  of  his  posi- 
tion. 

"  The  Farm "  at  Marshfield  is  worthy  to  be  the  rest- 
ing-place of  its  illustrious  owner.     It  is  shielded,  by 


8  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

a  range  of  beautiful  hills,  from  the  violence  of  our 
north-easterly  storms.  It  has  a  distant  view  of  the 
ocean,  beyond  the  lowlands,  which  every  high  tide 
overflows.  On  one  side,  a  wooded  promontory  juts 
into  the  sea ;  and  on  the  other  rises  a  sloping  high- 
land, on  the  brow  of  which,  in  the  deep  repose  of 
nature,  his  kindred  rest  in  their  long  sleep,  with  no 
sounds  above  or  around  them  but  the  murmurs  of  the 
wind  through  the  foliage  of  the  drooping  trees,  or  the 
song  of  birds,  or  the  solemn  voice  of  the  sea,  speak- 
ing eternally  from  its  vast  depths.  The  undulating 
surface  sweeps  up  from  the  marshes  and  forms  a  table- 
land, on  which  the  house  is  built;  then  gently  falls 
into  a  smooth  and  spreading  lawn ;  then,  by  a  steeper 
slope,  it  ascends  to  the  western  range  of  hills,  which, 
on  that  side,  shut  in  the  picture,  and  bound  a  scene 
of  harmonious,  yet  richly  varied  and  sweetly  contrasted 
beauty.  As  you  look  down  from  these  hills,  your 
heart  beats  with  the  unspeakable  emotion  that  such 
objects  inspire ;  but  the  charm  is  heightened  by  the 
reflection,  that  the  capabilities  of  nature  have  been 
unfolded  by  the  skill  and  taste  of  one  whose  fame 
fills  the  world  j '  that  an  illustrious  existence  has  here 
blended  its  activity  with  the  processes  of  the  genial 
earth,  and  breathed  its  power  into  the  breath  of  heaven, 
and  drawn  its  inspiration  from  the  air,  the  sea,  and 
the  sky,  around  and  above ;  and  that  here,  at  this 
moment,  the  same  illustrious  existence  is,  for  a  time, 
struggling  in  a  doubtful  contest  with  a  foe,  to  whom 
all  men  must,  sooner  or  later,  lay  down  their  arms. 
Here,  but  a  few  weeks  since,  Mr.  Webster  was  accus- 
tomed to  drive  the  transient  guest  over  his  estate ; 


LAST   AUTUMN   AT   MARSHFIELD.  9 

visiting  his  fields,  his  ocean  shore,  his  flocks,  and  his 
herds ;  pointing  out  the  prospect,  and  speaking  with 
tender  emotion  of  the  sad  and  happy  memories  the 
varied  views  recalled ;  conversing  with  the  rustic  neigh- 
bors whom  he  chanced  to  meet  in  kind  and  genial 
tones,  and  on  subjects  which  he  and  they  understood 
alike ;  uttering,  from  time  to  time,  glorious  thoughts, 
suggested  by  the  scene,  in  language  of  massive  beauty 
and  grandeur,  which  made  the  moment  memorable  in 
the  listener's  life.  But  this  has  been  in  some  measure 
interrupted.  That  noble  form,  that  surpassing  strength 
of  constitution,  have  drooped  under  the  protracted  ill- 
ness which  has  withheld  him  from  the  turmoil  raging 
outside  of  that  secluded  spot;  the  drives  over  the 
hills,  and  along  the  loud-resounding  sea,  which  he 
loved  so  much,  have  ceased.  Solemn  thoughts  ex- 
clude from  his  mind  the  inferior  topics  of  the  fleeting 
hour;  and  the  great  and  awful  themes  of  the  future, 
now  seemingly  opening  before  him,  —  themes  to  which 
his  mind  has  always  and  instinctively  turned  its  pro- 
foundest  meditations,  —  now  fill  the  hours  won  from 
the  weary  lassitude  of  illness,  or  from  the  public  du- 
ties, which  sickness  and  retirement  cannot  make  him 
forget  or  neglect.  The  eloquent  speculations  of  Cicero 
on  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  and  the  admirable 
arguments  against  the  Epicurean  philosophy,  put  into 
the  mouth  of  one  of  the  colloquists,  in  the  book  on 
the  Nature  of  the  Gods,  share  his  thoughts  with  the 
sure  testimony  of  the  Word  of  God.  But  no  day 
passes  that  the  affairs  of  the  country  do  not  occupy 
his  attention.  His  great  mind  never  applied  itself 
with  a  calmer  or  more  comprehensive  grasp  to  the 


10  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

duties  of  his  department.  The  intellectual  power  as- 
serts its  supremacy  over  physical  weakness  and  tedious 
disease,  with  an  unfaltering  energy  of  soul  that  in 
itself  is  a  stronger  argument  of  its  immortality  than 
Cicero  ever  uttered  in  the  majestic  accents  of  the  Latin 
tongue. 

These  are  the  dignified  pursuits  that  grace  the  days 
of  suffering  passed  by  the  illustrious  statesman  of 
Marshfield.  The  respectful  sympathies  of  the  country- 
surround  him  in  his  hours  of  illness,  and  the  prayers 
of  good  men  go  up  to  Heaven  for  his  speedy  restora- 
tion. If  it  is  written  in  the  inscrutable  decrees  of  God 
that  he  is  to  be  recalled  from  the  scene  of  his  earthly 
labors  before  his  work  is  completed,  —  if  so  heavy  a 
bereavement  is  soon  to  fall  on  the  American  people, — 
may  no  man  have  cause  to  reproach  himself  that  he 
strove  to  embitter  the  last  moments  of  so  illustrious 
a  life  by  harsh  imputations  or  slanderous  speech. 
When  Mr.  Webster  is  withdrawn  from  the  scenes  of 
this  world,  the  party  asperities  which  have  raged  so 
fiercely  round  him  will  be  drowned  in  the  tears  of  a 
nation's  grief;  and  he  who  has  so  far  forgotten  the 
claims  of  patriotic  greatness  as  to  join  in  the  ignoble 
work  of  calumniating  a  long  life,  exhausted  in  memo- 
rable services  to  the  country  and  the  age,  will  bear 
in  his  heart  the  burden  of  an  upbraiding  conscience, 
and  a  sense  of  wrong  done  to  the  common  benefactor 
of  every  American  citizen,  long  after  the  day  of  atone- 
ment is  passed.  For,  whatever  heated  partisans  may 
say  while  Mr.  Webster  lives,  hereafter,  when  the  histo- 
rian shall  look  back  upon  the  first  century  of  the 
American  Republic,  the  two  names  which  will  shine 


LAST   AUTUMN   AT   MARSHFIELD.  11 

with  most  unfading  lustre  and  the  serenest  glory,  high 
above  all  others,  are  Washington  and  Webster.  There 
are  men  who  are  remembered  only  as  the  revilers  of 
Washington;  there  may  be  men  who  will  be  remem- 
bered only  as  the  slanderers  of  Webster. 


ILLNESS  AND   DEATH. 


ILLNESS    AND    DEATH. 


MR.  WEBSTER  died  at  Marshfield,  on  Sunday  morn- 
ing, October  24th,  1852. 

His  health,  as  has  been  intimated  in  the  preceding 
paper,  had  failed  during  the  summer  from  his  severe 
public  labors  and  from  the  progress  of  an  obscure 
disease  in  the  liver  of  long  standing,  accelerated,  no 
doubt,  by  the  shock  which  his  whole  system  had  re- 
ceived when  he  was  thrown  from  his  carriage  in  the 
preceding  May.  He  was  aware  of  his  decline,  and 
watched  it  with  a  careful  observation;  frequently  giv- 
ing intimations  to  those  nearest  to  him  of  the  failure 
in  strength  which  he  noticed,  and  of  the  result  which 
he  apprehended  must  be  approaching.  Towards  the 
end  of  September  he  seemed,  indeed,  to  rally  a  little ; 
but  it  was  soon  apparent  to  others,  no  less  than  to 
himself,  that,  as  the  days  passed  on,  each  brought  with 
it  some  slight  proof  of  a  gradual  decay  in  his  bodily 
powers  and  resources. 

On  Sunday  evening,  October  10,  he  desired  a  friend, 
who  was  sitting  with  him,  to  read  to  him  the  passage 
in  the  ninth  chapter  of  St.  Mark's  Gospel,  where  the 


16  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

man  brings  his  child  to  Jesus  to  be  cured,  and  the 
Saviour  tells  him,  "If  thou  canst  believe,  all  things 
are  possible  to  him  that  believeth ;  and  straightway 
the  father  of  the  child  cried  out,  with  tears,  Lord,  I 
believe,  help  thou  mine  unbelief."  "Now,"  he  conti- 
nued, "  turn  to  the  tenth  chapter  of  St.  John,  and 
read  from  the  verse  where  it  is  said,  '  Many  of  the 
Jews  believed  on  him.' "  After  this  he  dictated  a 
few  lines,  and  directed  them  to  be  signed  with  his 
name  and  dated,  Sunday  Evening,  October  10,  1852. 
"  This,"  he  then  added,  "  is  the  inscription  to  be  placed 
on  my  monument."  A  few  days  later,  —  on  the  15th, 
—  he  recurred  to  the  same  subject,  and  revised  and 
corrected  with  his  own  hand  what  he  had  earlier  dic- 
tated, so  as  to  make  the  whole  read  as  follows :  — 

"  Lord,  I  believe  ;  help  thou 
mine  unbelief." 

Philosophical 
argument,  especially 
that  drawn  from  the  vastness  of 
the   Universe,  in   comparison   with  the 
apparent  insignificance  of  this  globe,  has  some- 
times shaken  my  reason  for  the  faith  which  is  in  me ; 
but  my  heart  has  always  assured  and  reassured  me,  that  the 
Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  must  be  a  Divine  Reality.     The 
Sermon  on  the  Mount  cannot  be  a  merely  human 
production.     This  belief  enters  into  the 
very  depth    of  my    conscience. 
The  whole  history  of  man 
proves  it. 

DANIEL  WEBSTER. 


ILLNESS    AND    DEATH.  17 

When  he  first  dictated  this  inscription,  he  said  to 
the  friend  who  wrote  it  down  —  "If  I  get  well,  and 
write  a  book  on  Christianity,  about  which  we  have 
talked,  we  can  attend  more  fully  to  this  matter.  But, 
if  I  should  be  taken  away  suddenly,  I  do  not  wish 
to  leave  any  duty  of  this  kind  unperformed.  I  want 
to  leave  somewhere  a  declaration  of  my  belief  in 
Christianity.  I  do  not  wish  to  go  into  any  doctrinal 
distinctions  in  regard  to  the  person  of  Jesus,  but  I 
wish  to  express  my  belief  in  his  divine  mission ; "  — 
solemn  and  remarkable  words,  by  which  it  is  plain 
that,  having  given  the  deliberate  testimony  of  his 
life  to  the  truth  of  Christianity,  as  a  miraculous  reve- 
lation of  God's  will  to  man,  he  desired,  though  dead, 
still  to  bear  the  same  testimony  from  his  grave  to 
the  same  great  truth.  The  monument  on  which  he 
intended  this  striking  inscription  should  be  placed,  he 
has  elsewhere  directed  should  be  of  "  exactly  the  same 
size  and  form"  with  the  modest  monuments  he  had 
already  erected,  within  the  same  inclosure,  for  his 
children  and  for  their  mother. 

On  Tuesday,  the  19th  of  October,  he  was  too  feeble 
to  appear  at  the  dinner-table,  and  desired  that  his  son 
might  take  his  place  at  its  head,  till  he  should  be 
able  again  to  go  down  stairs ;  "  or,"  he  added,  a  until 
I  give  it  up  to  him  altogether."  That  evening  was 
the  last  time  his  friends  had  the  happiness  to  see 
him  in  his  accustomed  seat  at  his  own  hospitable  fire- 
side. 

Warned  by  his  increasing  debility  he  had  already 
given  some  directions  concerning  a  final  disposition  of 
his  worldly  affairs;  but  he  now  desired  that  his  will 

3 


18  WEBSTER  MEMORIAL. 

might  be  immediately  drawn  up  in  legal  form,  and 
the  next  day  he  dictated  a  considerable  portion  of  it 
with  great  precision  and  a  beautiful  appropriateness 
of  phraseology.  Some  of  its  directions  are  very  strik- 
ing, not  only  from  their  import,  but  from  the  simpli- 
city with  which  their  meaning  is  set  forth :  — 

"I  wish  to  be  buried,"  he  says,  "without  the  least 
show  or  ostentation,  but  in  a  manner  respectful  to  my 
neighbors,  whose  kindness  has  contributed  so  much  to 
the.  happiness  of  me  and  mine,  and  for  whose  pros- 
perity I  offer  sincere  prayers  to  God." 

After  this,  every  thing  relating  to  his  personal  con- 
cerns is  wisely  and  well  provided  for,  and  all  his 
immediate  kindred  tenderly  remembered.  He  then 
goes  on:  — 

"My  servant,  William  Johnson,  is  a  free  man.  I 
bought  his  freedom  not  long  ago  for  six  hundred  dol- 
lars. No  demand  is  to  be  made  upon  him  for  any 
portion  of  this  sum;  but,  so  long  as  is  agreeable,  I 
hope  he  will  remain  with  the  family.  Monicha  Mc- 
Carty,  Sarah  Smith,  and  Ann  Bean,  colored  persons, 
now  also,  and,  for  a  long  time,  in  my  service,  are  all 
free.  They  are  very  well-deserving,  and  whoever  comes 
after  me,  must  be  kind  to  them." 

And  then,  with  the  usual  legal  forms,  this  remark- 
able and  characteristic  document  is  closed. 

The  day  when  the  preparation  of  the  will  was  com- 
pleted—  Thursday — was  one  in  which  Mr.  Webster 
had  attended  to  much  public  business,  besides  giving 
his  usual  careful  directions  about  every  thing  touch- 
ing his  household  and  his  large  estate.  It  was  in- 
tended, therefore,  to  postpone  the  final  signing  and 


ILLNESS  AND   DEATH.  19 

execution  of  that  paper  until  the  next  morning ;  more 
especially  as  his  forenoons  were  uniformly  more  com- 
fortable than  the  later  portions  of  the  day.  But,  in 
the  afternoon,  his  complaint  assumed  a  new  and  more 
formidable  character.  Blood  was  suddenly  ejected 
from  his  stomach.  The  symptom  was  decisive.  He 
fixed  an  intensely  scrutinizing  look  upon  Dr.  Jef- 
fries,—  his  attending  physician  and  personal  friend, — 
and  inquired  what  it  was?  He  was  answered  that  it 
came  from  the  diseased  part.  "What  is  it?"  he  re- 
peated with  the  same  piercing  look,  and  then,  without 
waiting  for  a  reply,  added,  "  That,  is  the  enemy ;  — 
if  you  can  conquer  that"  —  he  was  interrupted  by  a 
recurrence  of  the  attack,  but  his  mind,  it  was  obvious, 
was  already  made  up.  He  knew  that  his  time  must 
be  short,  and  that  whatever  he  had  to  do  must  be 
done  quickly. 

He  determined,  therefore,  at  once  to  execute  his 
will.  It  was  made  ready  and  brought  to  him.  He 
ascertained  that  its  provisions  and  arrangements  were 
entirely  satisfactory  to  the  persons  most  interested  in 
them,  and  then,  having  signed  it  with  a  larger  bold- 
ness and  freedom  in  the  signature  than  was  common  to 
him,  he  folded  his  hands  together,  and  said  solemnly, 
"  I  thank  God  for  strength  to  perform  a  sensible 
act."  In  a  full  voice,  and  with  a  most  reverential 
manner,  he  went  on  and  prayed  aloud  for  some  mi 
nutes,  ending  with  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  the  ascrip- 
tion, "And  now  unto  God  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Ghost,  be  praise  forever  more.  Peace  on  earth,  and 
good  will  towards  men;"  —  after  which,  clasping  his 
hands  together,  as  a,t  first,  he  added,  with  great  em- 


20  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

phasis, —  "That  is  the  happiness  —  the  essence  —  Good 
will  towards  men." 

Much  exhausted  with  the  effort,  he  desired  all  but 
Dr.  Jeffries  and  a  favorite  colored  nurse,  who  had 
long  been  in  his  service,  to  leave  the  room,  that  he 
might  rest.  But,  before  he  slept,  he  said,  "Doctor, 
you  look  sober.  You  think  I  shall  not  be  here  in 
the  morning.  But  I  shall.  I  shall  greet  the  morn- 
ing light." 

The  next  forenoon,  he  repeated  a  similar  assurance 
to  his  kind  and  faithful  physician,  who,  as  he  thought, 
again  looked  sad,  though  he  was  only  overcome  with 
fatigue  and  long  watching.  "  Cheer  up,  Doctor  — 
cheer  up  —  I  shall  not  die  to-day.  You  will  get  me 
along  to-day"  And  so  he  went  on  through  Friday, 
giving  comfort  and  kind  thoughts  to  all  who  surround- 
ed him.  In  the  course  of  the  morning,  he  attended 
to  the  public  business  that  needed  immediate  care, 
and  gave  directions  for  every  thing  about  his  farm 
and  household  as  usual,  and,  in  the  evening  -  sent 
for  the  person  who  managed  his  affairs,  and  directed 
him,  with  more  than  his  customary  exactness,  concern- 
ing all  arrangements  for  the  next  day. 

But  when  the  next  day  —  Saturday  —  came,  he  felt 
as  he  had  not  felt  before.  He  felt  that  it  was  his 
last  day.  About  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning,  there- 
fore, he  desired  that  all  in  the  room  should  leave  it, 
except  Dr.  Jeffries,  who  had  been  his  physician  for  a 
long  period,  and  who  had  now  been  in  constant  at- 
tendance  on  him,  living  in  the  house,  for  above  a  week. 
During  the  night  Mr.  Webster  perceived  that  he 
had  grown  weaker  by  excessive  loss  of  blood  from  the 


ILLNESS   AND   DEATH.  21 

stomach.  He  had  just  suffered  afresh  in  the  same  way. 
But  when  he  was  certain  that  he  was  alone  with 
his  professional  adviser,  and  that  no  loving  ear  would 
be  pained  by  what  he  should  say,  he  spoke  in  a  per- 
fectly clear  and  even  voice,  but  with  much  solemnity 
of  manner,  and  said,  "Doctor,  you  have  carried  me 
through  the  night.  I  think  you  will  get  me  through 
the  day.  I  shall  die  to-night."  The  faithful  physi- 
cian, much  moved,  said,  after  a  pause,  "You  are 
right,  Sir."  Mr.  Webster  then  went  on:  —  "I  wish 
you,  therefore,  to  send  an  express  to  Boston  for  some 
younger  person  to  be  with  you.  I  shall  die  to^night. 
You  are  exhausted,  and  must  be  relieved.  Who  shall 
it  be?"  Dr.  Jeffries  suggested  a  professional  brother, 
Dr.  J.  Mason  Warren,  adding  that  he  was  the  son  of 
an  old  and  faithful  friend  of  Mr.  Webster.  Mr.  Web- 
ster replied  instantly,  "  Let  him  be  sent  for." 

Dr.  Jeffries  left  the  room  to  prepare  a  note  for  the 
purpose,  and,  on  returning,  found  that  Mr.  Webster 
had  made  all  the  arrangements  necessary  for  its 
despatch,  having  given  minute  directions  who  should 
go;  —  what  horse  and  what  vehicle  he  should  use;  — 
what  road  he  should  follow;  —  where  he  should  take 
a  fresh  relay;  —  and  how  he  should  execute  his  er- 
rand on  reaching  the  city.  He  also  desired  that  pro- 
vision should  be  made  for  summoning  some  other  pro- 
fessional friend,  if  Dr.  Warren  could  not  be  found,  or 
could  not  come;  and,  on  being  told  that  this,  too, 
had  been  foreseen  and  cared  for,  he  seemed  much 
gratified,  and  said  emphatically,  "  Right,  right." 

After  some  repose,  he  conversed  >with  Mrs.  Web- 
ster, with  his  son,  and  with  two  or  three  other  of  the 


22  WEBSTER  MEMORIAL. 

persons  nearest  and  dearest  to  him  in  life,  in  the 
most  affectionate  and  tender  manner,  not  concealing 
from  them  his  view  of  the  approach  of  death,  but  con- 
soling them  with  religious  thoughts  and  assurances,  as 
if  support  were  more  needful  for  their  hearts  than  for 
his  own.  On  different  occasions,  in  the  course  of  the 
day,  he  prayed  audibly.  Oftener,  he  seemed  to  be 
in  silent  prayer  and  meditation.  But,  at  all  times, 
he  was  quickly  attentive  to  whatever  was  doing  or 
needed  to  be  done.  He  gave  detailed  orders  for  the 
adjustment  of  whatever  in  his  affairs  required  it,  and 
superintended  and  arranged  every  thing  for  his  own 
departure  from  life,  as  if  it  had  been  that  of  another 
person,  for  whom  it  was  his  duty  to  take  the  mi- 
nutest care. 

After  nightfall,  he  received  at  his  bedside  each 
member  of  his  family  and  household,  the  friends 
gathered  under  his  roof,  and  the  servants,  most  of 
whom  having  been  long  in  his  service  had  become 
to  him  as  affectionate  and  faithful  friends.  It  was 
a  solemn  and  religious  parting,  in  which,  while  all 
around  him  were  overwhelmed  with  sorrow,  he  pre« 
served  his  accustomed  equanimity,  speaking  to  each 
words  of  appropriate  kindness  and  consolation  which 
they  will  treasure  hereafter  among  their  most  pre- 
cious and  life-long  possessions. 

During  the  whole  course  of  his  illness,  Mr.  Web- 
ster never  spoke  of  his  disease  or  of  his  sufferings, 
except  in  the  most  general  terms,  or  in  order  to  give 
information  to  his  medical  advisers;  but  it  was  plain 
to  Dr.  Jackson,  who  was  twice  called  in  consulta- 
tion ;  to  Dr.  Warren,  who  was  with  him  during  the 


ILLNESS   AND   DEATH.  23 

last  night  of  his  life ;  and  to  Dr.  Jeffries,  who  was 
his  constant  attendant  from  the  first,  that  he  noted 
and  understood  every  thing  that  related  to  his  condi- 
tion, and  its  successive  changes.  His  conversation  on 
this,  as  on  all  other  subjects,  was  perfectly  easy  and 
simple ;  —  the  deep  tones  of  his  voice  remained  un- 
changed ;  —  his  gentleness  was  uniform  ;  —  and  the 
expressions  of  his  affection  to  those  who  approached 
him,  and  even  to  those  who  were  absent,  but  who 
were  carefully  remembered  by  him  in  messages  of 
kindness,  were  true,  tender,  and  faithful  to  the  end. 
No  complaint  escaped  from  him ;  nor  did  he  show 
the  least  impatience  under  his  infirmities,  or  the  least 
reluctance  to  die.  He  felt  the  value  and  the  power 
of  life,  and  he  was  full  of  love  for  his  home,  and  for 
all  that  surrounded  him  there  and  made  him  happy. 
But  his  submission  to  the  will  of  God  was  entire. 
He  said,  on  one  occasion,  "I  shall  lie  here  patiently 
until  I  die ; "  —  and  he  did  so.  But,  through  those 
wearisome  days,  he  preserved  his  natural  manner  in 
every  thing,  and  maintained,  without  effort,  those  just 
and  true  relations  between  himself  and  all  persons, 
things,  and  occurrences  about  him,  which  through  life 
had  marked  him  so  strongly  and  had  given  such 
dignity  and  power  to  his  character. 

From  the  morning  of  Saturday,  when  he  had  an- 
nounced to  his  attendant  physician  —  what  nobody, 
until  that  time,  had  intimated  —  that  he  "should  die 
that  night,"  the  whole  strength  of  his  great  faculties 
seemed  to  be  directed  to  obtain  for  him  a  plain  and 
clear  perception  of  his  onward  passage  to  another 
world,  and  of  his  feelings  and  condition  at  the  precise 


24  WEBSTER  MEMORIAL. 

moment  when  he  should  be  entering  its  confines. 
Once,  being  faint,  he  asked  if  he  were  not  then  dying  ? 
and  on  being  answered  that  he  was  not,  but  that  he 
was  near  to  death,  he  replied  simply,  "Well;"  as  if 
the  frank  and  exact  reply  were  what  he  had  desired 
to  receive.  A  little  later,  when  his  kind  physician 
repeated  to  him  that  striking  text  of  Scripture, — 
"  Yea,  though  I  walk  through  the  valley  of  the  shadow 
of  death,  I  will  fear  no  evil,  for  thou  art  with  me ;  thy 
rod  and  thy  staff,  they  comfort  me" — he  seemed 
less  satisfied,  and  said,  "  Yes; — but  the  fact,  the  fact  I 
want;" — desiring  to  know  if  he  were  to  regard  these 
words  as  an  intimation,  that  he  was  already  within  that 
dark  valley.  On  another  occasion,  he  inquired  whether 
it  were  likely  that  he  should  again  eject  blood  from 
his  stomach  before  death,  and,  being  told  that  it  was 
improbable,  he  asked,  "  Then  what  shall  you  do  ? " 
Being  answered  that  he  would  be  supported  by  stimu- 
lants, and  rendered  as  easy  as  possible  by  the  opiates 
that  had  suited  him  so  well,  he  inquired,  at  once,  if 
the  stimulant  should  not  be  given  immediately  ;  anx- 
ious again  to  know  if  the  hand  of  death  were  not 
already  upon  him.  And  on  being  told,  that  it  would 
not  be  then  given,  he  replied,  "  When  you  give  it  to 
me,  I  shall  know  that  I  may  drop  off  at  once." 

Being  satisfied  on  this  point,  and  that  he  should, 
therefore,  have  a  final  warning,  he  said  a  moment 
afterwards,  "I  will,  then,  put  myself  in  a  position  to 
obtain  a  little  repose."  In  this  he  was  successful.  He 
had  intervals  of  rest  to  the  last;  but  on  rousing  from 
them,  he  showed  that  he  was  still  intensely  anxious 
to  preserve  his  consciousness,  and  to  watch  for  the 


ILLNESS    AND    DEATH.  25 

moment  and  act  of  his  departure,  so  as  to  comprehend 
it.  Awaking  from  one  of  these  slumbers,  late  in  the 
night,  he  asked  distinctly  if  he  were  alive,  and  on  be- 
ing assured  that  he  was,  and  that  his  family  was  col- 
lected around  his  bed,  he  said,  in  a  perfectly  natural 
tone,  as  if  assenting  to  what  had  been  told  him,  be- 
cause he  himself  perceived  that  it  was  true,  "  I  still 
live."  These  were  his  last  coherent  and  intelligible 
words.  At  twenty-three  minutes  before  three  o'clock, 
without  a  struggle  or  a  groan,  all  signs  of  life  ceased 
to  be  visible ;  his  vital  organs  giving  way  at  last  so 
slowly  and  gradually  as  to  indicate, — what  every  thing 
during  his  illness  had  already  shown,  —  that  his  intel- 
lectual and  moral  faculties  still  maintained  an  extra- 
ordinary mastery  amidst  the  failing  resources  of  his 
physical  constitution. 

And  so  there  passed  out  of  this  world  one  of  its 
great,  beneficent,  and  controlling  spirits.  As  the  sun 
rose  on  that  quiet  Sabbath  morning  the  expected,  yet 
dreaded,  event  was  announced  as  a  public  calamity, 
first,  by  the  solemn  discharge  of  minute  guns,  and  after- 
wards by  the  tolling  of  bells,  over  a  large  part  of  the 
land  —  a  spontaneous  outbreak  of  the  general  feeling 
at  the  loss  all  had  suffered.  How  heavily  it  fell  on 
the  hearts  of  men  in  this  city,  where,  he  was  best 
known,  and  especially  what  deep  grief,  mingled  with 
bitter  recollections  of  the  past,  and  anxious  forebod- 
ings for  the  future,  marked  each  of  the  three  memo- 
rable days,  —  consecrated  as  no  three  similar  days  ever 
were  consecrated  among  us,  to  public  mourning, — may 
be  partly  gathered  from  the  records  which  this  volume 
is  intended  to  collect  and  preserve.  The  rest  —  little 
4 


26  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

of  which  can  be  recorded  —  will  dwell,  among  their 
saddest  and  most  sacred  thoughts,  in  the  memories  of 
all  who  shared  in  the  moving  services  of  those  solemn 
occasions,  or  who  gathered  around  that  peaceful,  sea- 
girt grave,  and  will  be  transmitted  by  them  to  their 
children,  as  the  warning  traditions  of  a  great  national 
sorrow. 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  CITY  COUNCIL. 


PROCEEDINGS  IN  THE  BOARD  OF  MAYOR 
AND  ALDERMEN. 


AT  an  early  hour  of  the  morning  of  Monday,  Oc- 
tober 25,  the  Mayor  issued  an  order  for  a  special 
session  of  the  Board,  to  testify  their  sense  of  the 
great  loss  which  the  City  of  Boston  had  sustained  in 
the  death  of  Mr.  Webster ;  and  to  consult  as  to  the 
measures  proper  to  be  adopted  to  honor  his  memory. 
On  taking  the  chair,  His  HONOR  addressed  the  Board 
as  follows : 

Gentlemen  of  .the  Board  of  Aldermen,  —  I  have  called 
this  special  meeting  of  the  Board  to  perform  the  pain- 
ful duty  of  officially  announcing  to  you  the  death  of 
the  Honorable  Daniel  Webster,  Secretary  of  State  of 
the  United  States.  He  died  calmly  and  peacefully  at 
his  residence  in  Marshfield,  yesterday  (Sunday)  morn- 
ing, between  the  hours  of  two  and  three  o'clock,  and 
the  country  is  overwhelmed  with  sorrow  at  this  mourn- 
ful event.  There  are  seasons,  Gentlemen,  when  the 
heart  is  too  full  for  utterance,  and  this  is  eminently 
one  of  them.  I  shall  not,  therefore,  attempt  to  ob- 
trude, upon  this  solemn  occasion,  any  poor  words  of 
my  own,  but  leave  to  your  good  judgment  to  adopt 


30  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

such  measures  as  may  be  befitting,  to  testify  the 
deep  sense  entertained  by  the  Board,  and  the  citizens 
generally,  of  the  great  loss  which  has  been  sustained 
by  this  afflictive  dispensation. 

As  early  as  practicable  after  the  sad  intelligence 
was  received  here,  I  caused  the  bells  of  the  churches 
to  be  tolled,  to  announce  the  event  to  the  people. 

The  Chair  is  now  ready  to  receive  any  proposition 
that  may  be  made. 

Alderman  OBER  then  addressed  the  Board  as  fol- 
lows : 

Mr.  Mayor,  —  I  rise  in  conformity  with  the  prompt- 
ings df  my  heart,  to  offer  an  order  for  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  committee  to  report  such  measures  as  shall 
be  appropriate  to  testify  the  great  respect  and  attach- 
ment we  all  of  us  feel  for  him  whose  loss  we  now  la- 
ment—  him  whom  we  have  ever  regarded  as  the  pil- 
lar of  our  constitutional  liberty  and  as  the  friend  of 
the  oppressed  in  every  nation  —  whose  opinions  and 
sentiments  will  ever  shed  upon  his  name  a  lustre 
which  cannot  be  obliterated. 

Whereas,  His  Honor  the  Mayor  has  announced  to  this  Board  the 
death  of  the  Honorable  Daniel  Webster,  Secretary  of  State  of  the 
United  States ;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  this  information  is  receiA'ed  by  us  with  the  most 
profound  feelings  of  respect  and  veneration  for  the  illustrious  cha- 
racter of  the  deceased,  and  with  the  deepest  grief  for  the  loss  which 
has  been  sustained  by  the  cause  of  Humanity  and  true  Constitu- 
tional Liberty  throughout  the  world. 

Resolved,  That  while  in  common  with  the  whole  American  people 
we  feel  the  death  of  Mr.  Webster  to  be  a  great  National  calamity, 
we  cannot  but  also  feel,  that  to  the  inhabitants  of  this  city  of  his 
early  adoption,  and  with  whom  for  nearly  half  a  century  his  name 


PROCEEDINGS   OF   THE   CITY   COUNCIL.  31 

and  fame  have  been  so  closely  identified,  this  national  calamity  is 
also  a  sad  domestic  bereavement. 

Resolved,  That  the  City  Council,  in  a  body,  will  attend  the  fune- 
ral of  Mr.  Webster  at  Marshfield;  that  the  members  thereof  will 
wear  crape  on  the  left  arm  for  the  space  of  thirty  days ;  and  that 
the  same  badge  of  mourning  for  the  illustrious  deceased,  and  for 
the  same  length  of  time,  be  recommended  to  the  citizens  generally. 

Resolved,  That  a  joint  special  Committee  be  now  appointed,  to 
consider  and  report  forthwith,  what  measures  it  is  expedient  for 
the  City  Council  to  adopt  in  further  testimony  of  that  profound 
respect  and  veneration  for  the  memory  of  Mr.  Webster,  which  the 
whole  community  so  deeply  feel  and  desire  publicly  to  express. 

Resolved,  That  the  City  Council,  as  the  representatives  of  the 
people  of  Boston,  tender  to  the  family  of  Mr.  Webster  their  most 
sincere  and  heartfelt  sympathy  in  this  season  of  their  deep  sorrow 
and  affliction,  and  that  a  copy  of  these  resolutions,  under  the  seal 
of  the  City,  be  transmitted  to  Mrs.  Webster,  and  also  to  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States. 

Alderman  REED  seconded  the  Resolutions,  and,  in 
doing  so,  addressed  the  Board  as  follows: 

There  seems  to  be  little  occasion  for  any  remarks 
at  the  present  time,  from  any  member  of  this  Board. 
The  news  of  the  death  of  Mr.  Webster  is  now  rapidly 
flying  to  the  remotest  extremities  of  the  country,  and 
the  heart  of  this  nation  is  at  this  moment  filled  with 
the  same  feelings  and  thoughts  with  which  our  own 
minds  are  occupied ;  and  these  may,  perhaps,  be  as 
well  expressed  by  silence  as  by  words. 

It  seems  to  me  to  have  been  among  the  most  for- 
tunate events  of  the  present  municipal  year,  that  Mr. 
Webster  received  the  unanimous  invitation  of  the  City 
Council  to  address  his  fellow-citizens  in  Faneuil  Hall, 
and  that  the  invitation  was  accepted  by  him.  We 
have  reason  to  think  that  this  occurrence  was  highly 


32  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

grateful  to  his  own   feelings,  as  it  was   honorable  to 
the  City  Council  and  acceptable  to  the  citizens. 

The  opportunity  then  afforded  to  the  members  of 
this  Board,  of  presenting  their  respects  to  him  form- 
ally, will  always  remain  among  their  most  cherished 
recollections ;  and  the  citizens,  who  were  present  at 
Faneuil  Hall,  will  tell  their  children  and  their  child- 
ren's children,  that  they  saw  and  heard  Daniel  Web- 
ster. Could  we,  at  that  time,  have  foreseen  how  soon 
lie  would  leave  us,  what  solemnity,  what  intensity  of 
interest,  would  have  been  given  to  the  occasion! 

The  death,  as  well  as  the  birth,  of  distinguished  in- 
dividuals, forms  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  nations  and 
of  the  world ;  and  I  have  sometimes  thought  that 
there  was  a  tendency  in  the  providential  course  of 
events,  for  great  men  to  cluster  together  in  their 
death  as  in  their  life.  However  this  may  be,  the  pre- 
sent year  will  be  forever  memorable  in  the  annals  of 
history,  for  the  deaths  of  distinguished  men,  —  men 
whose  death  caused  a  profound  sensation  not  only 
throughout  their  own  country,  but  throughout  the 
world.  I  need  only  mention  the  names  of  Henry 
Clay,  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  and  Daniel  Webster. 

The  Resolutions  were  here  passed  with  great  una- 
nimity. Ihe  Mayor  appointed  Aldermen  Ober,  Reed, 
Rich,  and  Gary,  a  Committee  on  the  part  of  the 
Board. 

The  Board  then  took  a  recess,  to  allow  concurrent 
action  of  the  Common  Council. 


PROCEEDINGS  IN  THE  COMMON  COUNCIL. 


The  lower  branch  of  the  City  Council  convened 
shortly  after  the  hour  of  the  upper  branch,  the  Presi- 
dent, Henry  J.  Gardner,  Esq.,  in  the  chair. 

On  calling  the  Council  to  order,  Mr.  GARDNER  spoke 
as  follows. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Common  Council  —  This  special 
meeting  of  the  Council  has  been  convened  on  a  most 
solemn  occasion.  The  letter  I  hold  in  my  hand,  from 
his  Honor  the  Mayor,  contains  the  onicial  announce- 
ment that  Daniel  Webster  is  no  more. 

Seventy-one  years  ago  next  January,  in  a  rude  farm- 
house, then  the  most  northerly  inhabited  by  a  white 
man  in  the  interior  of  New  England,  Mr.  Webster 
first  saw  the  light,  with  no  birthright  but  the  good 
name  of  his  father  and  the  prayers  of  a  pious  mother. 
His  early  years  were  passed  amid  the  wild  beauties 
of  the  mountain  district  of  New  Hampshire,  then 
clothed  in  their  primeval  forests ;  his  physical  pow- 
ers developed  by  the  labors  of  the  farm  on  that  stern 
soil,  and  his  mental  faculties  quickened  by  the  legends 
and  traditions  of  his  paternal  hearth. 

In  due  time,  we  find  him  transferred  to  the  vene- 
rable Academy  at  Exeter,  and  thence  to  Dartmouth 
College.  After  his  graduation,  he  taught  school  in 
the  western  part  of  Maine  for  a  season,  and  then 
he  entered,  with  his  characteristic  assiduity  and  ardor, 

5 


34  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

on  the  study  of  his  profession.  During  a  few  years 
we  see  him  putting  aside  his  hopes  of  fame  and  pro- 
fessional aspirations,  to  watch  the  declining  health  of 
his  father,  and  to  lighten  or  remove  the  home  labors 
that  weighed  upon  him.  At  that'  parent's  decease,  he 
removed  to  the  then  capital  of  his  native  State,  — 
Portsmouth.  Here  acquiring  fame,  wider  and  wider 
extended  every  year,  he  at  length  was  elected,  once 
and  again,  a  member  of  Congress. 

It  may  be  worthy  of  mention  that,  during  his  long 
public  life,  he  was  a  candidate  directly  before  the 
people  but  five  times,  and  was  never  defeated.  At 
his  first  election  to  Congress,  from  New  Hampshire, 
and  at  his  first,  too,  from  Massachusetts,  he  led  his 
ticket  very  largely;  and  on  his  reelection,  in  both 
instances,  and  also  on  his  election  as  a  member  of  the 
Convention  to  revise  our  State  Constitution,  he  had 
no  organized  opposition.  So  surely  does  the  commu- 
nity pay  homage  to  surpassing  intellect,  when  accom- 
panied and  graced  by  purity  of  private  life. 

But  it  is  not  needful  to  trace  him  step  by  step  far- 
ther. From  his  removal  to  our  city,  his  name  be- 
comes historic,  —  his  words  and  deeds  and  life  are 
household  themes.  Henceforth  the  farmer's  son,  from 
an  obscure  section  of  New  Hampshire,  becomes  the 
statesman,  jurist,  orator,  patriot,  —  at  whose  words  lis- 
tening senates  were  convinced,  whose  mind  swayed 
the  destinies  of  mighty  nations,  and  at  whose  death 
a  whole  country  now  mourns. 

A  great  light  is  extinguished,  and  the  world  is  the 
darker  for  it.  We  had  three  distinguished  statesmen, 
differing  in  their  intellectual  tendencies,  but  towering 


PROCEEDINGS   OF   THE   CITY   COUNCIL.  35 

amid  and  above  the  great  men  of  our  land ;  and  now 
the  last  and  the  mightiest  has  left  us. 

Since  most  of  us  came  upon  the  sphere  of  man- 
hood, we  have  looked  to  him  in  his  meridian  splen- 
dor with  love,  and  admiration,  and  devotion.  We  have 
listened  to  his  words  of  power,  have  studied  his  com- 
prehensive writings,  and  turned  to  him,  not  in  vain, 
when  doubt  and  darkness  overshadowed  the  future. 

But  it  is  not  we,  —  not  a  State,  or  section,  or  party, 
—  whose  loss  alone  is  irreparable ;  our  country  weeps 
her  ablest  son ;  the  Constitution,  its  exponent  and 
defender;  the  Union,  for  which  he  perilled  hopes  and 
friends,  esteem  and  love, —  the  Union  mourns  its  warm- 
est advocate. 

It  was  but  yesterday,  as  it  were,  that  we,  as  a 
body,  saw  him  and  heard  him;  heard  that  eloquence 
which  lives  now  but  in  memory,  and,  in  a  few  short 
years,  will  be  historic  only.  The  words  of  the  world's 
great  poet  apply  to  him  — 

"  That,  when  he  speaks, 
The  air,  a  chartered  libertine,  is  still, 
And  the  mute  wonder  lurketh  in  men's  ears 
To  steal  his sentences." 

• 

But  he  is  gone.  The  world  has  poured  out  its  rich 
treasury  of  gifts  upon  him,  "honors  and  fame  and 
troops  of  friends,"  till  there  was  nothing  left  to  halo 
more  greatness  round  the  name  of  Daniel  Webster. 

And  living  thus  honorably  like  a  Christian  patriot, 
he  has  died.  How  great  the  satisfaction  that  his  un- 
dimmed  mind,  resigned  and  calm  throughout,  leaning 
on  that  faith  we  all  should  cling  to,  has  passed  cheer- 


36  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

fully  along  the  final  road.  He  went  calm,  submissive, 
self-possessed — no  duty  unfulfilled — e_arth's  greatest 
honors  exhausted. 

"No  cause  for  sorrow,  then;  but  thankfulness, 
Life's  business  well  performed, 
When  weary  age  full  willingly 

Resigns  itself  to  sleep, 
In  sure  and  certain  hope. 
Oh  end  to  be  desired,  whene'er  as  now, 

A  life  of  service  passed, 
The  seasonable  fruit  of  faith 

And  good  feport, —  and  good 
Example  have  survived." 

The  President  having  concluded  his  remarks,  read 
the  following  letter  from  the  Mayor: 

CITY  HALL,  Boston,  October  25,  1852. 

HENRY  J.  GARDNER,  Esq.,  President  of  the    Common   Council. 

SIR  —  I  have  summoned  a  special  meeting  of  the 
members  of  the  Common  Council,  for  the  purpose  of 
communicating  to  them  the  proceedings  of  the  Board 
of  Mayor  and  Aldermen  on  the  melancholy  intelligence 
of  the  death  of  the  Honorable  Daniel  Webster. 

I  respectfully  ask  your  Board  to  take  such  measures 
as  may  be  deemed  proper,  to  testify  their  sensg  of  the 
loss  sustained  by  our  city  and  the  country,  by  this 
afflictive  dispensation  of  Divine  Providence.  In  order 
to  announce  the  sad  event,  I  caused  the  bells  of  the 
Churches  to  be  tolled  from  9  to  10  o'clock,  yesterday 
morning. 

BENJAMIN  SEAVER,  Mayor. 

The  Resolutions  were  here  unanimously  passed  in 
concurrence,  the  members  of  the  Council  rising,  an 


PROCEEDINGS   OF   THE   CITY    COUNCIL.  37 

event  of  unusual,  if  not  unprecedented,  occurrence. 
Messrs.  Lawrence,  Thompson,  Haskell,  Hale,  Thomas, 
Calrow,  and  Nicholson,  were  joined  to  the  Committee 
of  the  Board  of  Mayor  and  Aldermen.  The  Council 
then  took  a  recess. 

SECOND    SESSION   OF  THE  BOAKD    OF    MAYOR    AND    ALDERMEN. 

At  the  reassembling  of  the  Mayor  and  Aldermen, 
the  following  Report  was  made  by  Alderman  OBER  : 

The  Joint  Special  Committee  of  the  City  Council, 
who  were  authorized,  by  an  order  of  this  date,  to  con- 
sider and  report  what  further  measures  should  be 
adopted  to  testify  the  loss  this  City  and  our  Country 
has  sustained,  in  the  recent  decease  of  the  Honorable 
Daniel  Webster;  having  attended  to  that  duty,  sub- 
mit the  following  report. 

First.  That  in  addition  to  the  measures  suggested  in  the  reso- 
lutions already  adopted,  the  Committee  recommend  that  the  halls 
of  both  branches  of  the  City  Government,  together  with  Faneuil 
Hall,  be  shrouded  with  emblems  of  mourning,  such  emblems  to 
reinaiiTfor  the  space  of  three  months. 

Second.  That  the  American  flag  be  immediately  displayed  at  half- 
mast  upon  City  Hall,  on  Faneuil  Hall,  and  upon  the  flagstaff  on 
the  Common,  and  remain  during  the  daytime  every  day,  until  after 
the  funeral  of  Mr.  "Webster  shall  have  taken  place ;  and  that  mer- 
chants and  masters  of  vessels  in  port  be  requested  to  display  their 
flags  at  half-mast  during  the  same  time. 

Third.  That  on  the  day  set  apart  for  the  funeral,  all  public 
business  be  suspended ;  that  the  citizens  be  requested  to  close  their 
places  of  business  during  the  entire  day ;  that  signal  guns  be  fired 
on  the  Common  and  on  Blackstone  Square  every  fifteen  minutes, 
commencing  at  sunrise,  and  continuing  until  the  hour  fixed  for  the 
performance  of  the  funeral  ceremonies,  when  minute  guns  be  fired 
for  one  hour,  and  during  that  hour  all  the  bells  in  the  city  be  tolled. 


38  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

Fourth.  That  a  eulogy  on  the  life,  character,  and  public  servi- 
ces of  Mr.  Webster  be  pronounced  before  the  government  and 
citizens  of  Boston,  in  Faneuil  Hall,  by  such  individual,  at  such 
time,  and  attended  by  such  ceremonies  as  the  Committee  hereinafter 
recommended  to  be  appointed,  shall  determine. 

Fifth.  That  a  Committee,  consisting  of  the  Board  of  Mayor  and 
Aldermen,  the  President  of  the  Common  Council,  and  one  mem- 
ber of  the  Council  from  each  ward,  be  appointed  as  a  Committee 
of  Arrangements,  with  full  power  to  carry  into  effect  the  foregoing 
recommendations,  and  to  take  such  other  action  in  the  premises  as 
said  Committee  deem  expedient  and  proper. 

The  report  was  unanimously  accepted,  and  ordered 
to  be  sent  down.  Adjourned. 

SECOND    SESSION   OF   THE   COUNCIL. 

On  the  reassembling  of  the  Council,  a  messenger 
was  received  from  the  other  branch,  bringing  the 
above  Report,  offered  by  Alderman  Ober.  After  re- 
marks of  a  brief,  pertinent,  and  eloquent  character  by 
Messrs.  HOBART  and  LAWRENCE,  the  Report  was  una- 
nimously adopted. 

The  President  then  appointed  the  following  gentle- 
men on  the  Committee,  on  the  part  of  this  branch, 
mentioned  in  the  last  section  of  the  above  Report: 

Messrs.  Stearns,  of  Ward  1;  Calrow,  of  Ward  2; 
Bradbury,  of  Ward  3;  Lawrence,  of  Ward  4;  Jewell, 
of  Ward  5 ;  Thomas,  of  Ward  6 ;  Nicholson,  of  Ward  7 ; 
Haskell,  of  Ward  8 ;  Thompson,  of  Ward  9 ;  Lincoln, 
of  Ward  10  ;  Hale,  of  Ward  11 ;  and  Southard,  of  Ward 
12. 

The  Council  then  adjourned. 


PROCEEDINGS 


IN 


THE  COURT  OF  COMMON  PLEAS. 


PROCEEDINGS    IN    THE    COURT    OF   COMMON 

PLEAS. 


AT  the  opening  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  on 
Monday  morning,  October  25,  Hon.  JOHN  C.  PARK, 
County  Attorney,  rose  and  spoke  as  follows: 

May  it  please  your  Honor  —  I  rise,  with  your  per- 
mission, to  make  an  announcement  and  offer  a  mo- 
tion. I  do  this  partly  at  the  request  of  my  friends 
of  the  Bar,  and  partly  because  it  is  my  duty,  hold- 
ing the  office,  for  the  time  being,  of  Attorney  for  the 
Commonwealth  in  these  Courts,  to  notice  an  occasion, 
on  which  the  Commonwealth,  as  such,  has  suffered  an 
irreparable  bereavement. 

Daniel  Webster,  the  Patriot,  the  Jurist,  the  States- 
man, is  no  more. 

I  rise  to  pronounce  no  panegyric,  no  eulogy !  This 
is  neither  the  time  nor  occasion  —  nor  am  I  the  man. 
When  the  avalanche  has  fallen  from  the  mountain  top, 
when  the  thunderbolt  has  cleft  the  forest  oak,  deep 
silence  succeeds  the  shock;  and  now  the  public  pulse 
has  ceased  its  throbbings,  and  holy,  silent  awe  is  the 
loudest  oratory.  Time  will  be,  when  we  shall  awake 
to  a  full  realization  of  the  event;  and  then  eloquent 
lips  will  pour  forth  a  nation's  feelings. 


42  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

How  many  thousands  sympathize  in  the  emotions 
of  this  hour !  The  news,  lightning-winged,  has  already 
pervaded  the  Continent.  The  fisherman,  on  the  Banks, 
pauses  in  his  toil  to  echo  back  the  wail,  which  reaches 
him  from  the  shore.  The  trapper,  in  the  valleys  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  catches  it,  as  it  rolls  across  the 
prairies.  The  industry  of  the  nation  feels  that  it  has 
lost  its  best  friend;  —  and  even  on  the  thrones  of 
Europe,  the  monarchs  of  the  Old  World  tremble  as 
they  learn  that  that  master  spirit,  which  has  wielded 
a  moral  power  over  the  destinies  of  nations  more  po- 
tent than  their  armed  legions  or  their  diplomatic  ma- 
chinery, now  stands  with  Prophets  of  old  and  Apos- 
tles of  truth,  in  humble  adoration  before  the  throne 
of  Omnipotence. 

Around  us  —  in  our  very  midst  —  how  every  thing 
speaks  to  us  of  him!  Yonder  monument  to  Liberty, 
baptized  in  the  floods  of  his  eloquence,  yonder  Pil- 
grim Rock,  consecrated  by  his  lips,  in  the  spirit  of 
Puritan  truth,  —  the  very  landmarks  and  boundaries 
of  our  land,  from  the  bleak  Northeast  to  the  sultry 
Southwest,  are  established  under  his  wise,  far-seeing 
guidance.  Not  a  waterfall  or  cataract  in  all  New 
England,  rendered  useful  to  mankind  by  those  dis- 
creet measures  which  always  met  his  cordial  support, 
that  did  not  seem  on  yesterday's  holy  morn,  to  have 
rolled  its  course  seaward  with  a  more  subdued  and 
plaintive  murmur. 

The  Indian,  when  his  Chief  goes  on  his  long  pil- 
grimage to  the  spirit-land,  buries  with  him  his  war 
implements,  his  tomahawk,  and  arrows.  We,  of  a 
Christian  faith,  bury,  far  away  from  our  Chief,  the 


COURT    OF   COMMON   PLEAS.  43 

barbed  arrows  of  political  strife  and  party  rancor, 
and  gaze,  with  mournful  gratitude,  on  the  countless 
benefits  which  he  has  conferred  upon  us. 

Threescore  years  and  ten  he  has  been  spared  to 
us.  Thirty,  at  least,  of  the  number,  he  has  been 
leaving  the  impress  of  his  gigantic  intellect  upon 
every  prominent  measure  which  has  conduced  to  our 
country's  advancement  and  prosperity. 

But  I  forbear.  The  glorious  sun  has  set.  Un- 
clouded to  the  last,  its  latent  beams  were  of  meri- 
dian splendor,  and  the  twilight  of  good  influences 
which  it  leaves  will  endure  forever. 

May  it  please  your  Honor  —  I  feel  sure  that  the 
Court  will  concur  with  the  Bar,  in  believing  that 
these  halls  of  justice,  from  which  we  are  to  miss 
those  eloquent  tones,  that  impressive  form,  should,  for 
a  time  be  left  to  meditative  silence.  The  old,  who 
have  met  him  in  the  arena  of  forensic  warfare;  the 
middle-aged,  who  have  lost  in  him  a  kind  friend  and 
willing  counsellor;  the  young,  who  have  sat  at  his 
feet,  and  drank  in  lessons  of  deep  wisdom  from  his 
lips;  and  even  the  young,  struggling  student,  who, 
while  he  fully  realizes  the  picture  of  the  poet, 

"Haud  facile  emergunt  quorum  virtutibus  obstat 
Res  angusta  domi," 

yet  revived  his  drooping  spirits  with  the  remembrance 
of  the  perseverance  and  eventual  success  of  the  New 
Hampshire  farmer's  boy.  All,  all  unite  to  mourn  our 
loss. 

I  now  move  the  Court,  that   this  Court  be  adjourn- 


44  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

ed  for  such   interval  as   the   proper   discharge   of  our 
public  duties  may  permit. 

Judge  PERKINS  very  briefly  responded,  remarking 
that,  as  it  was  understood  further  proceedings  relating 
to  Mr.  Webster's  death  would  take  place  in  the  Cir- 
cuit Court  to-morrow,  he  would  add  nothing  to  what 
had  been  said;  and,  in  accordance  with  the  wishes  of 
the  Bar,  he  would  adjourn  the  Court  to  Thursday. 


MEETING  AT  FANEUIL  HALL. 


MEETING    IN    FANEUIL    HALL. 


ON  the  evening  of  Monday,  October  25,  a  meeting 
of  gentlemen  was  held  at  the  Revere  House,  to  con- 
sult together  as  to  the  measures  proper  to  be  adopted 
by  the  Citizens  of  Boston  to  show  their  respect  to 
the  memory  of  Mr.  Webster,  and  their  sense  of  the 
great  loss  sustained  by  them  and  the  country  at 
large  in  his  death.  After  some  discussion,  the  follow- 
ing call  was  drawn  up,  signed,  and  directed  ta  be 
published  in  the  papers  of  the  next  morning. 

MEETING   IN    FANEUIL     HALL. 

All  persons  desirous  to  consult  together  and  consider  what  me- 
morial of  the  services  of  Daniel  "Webster  is  due  to  themselves  and 
their  country,  are  requested  to  assemble  in  Faneuil  Hall  to-morrow, 
(Wednesday)  October  27th,  at  noon,  for  that  purpose. 

Edward  Everett,  William  Hayden,  George  Ticknor,  George  S. 
Hillard,  Joseph  Tilden,  Isaac  Parker,  Levi  A.  Dowley,  T.  B. 
Curtis,  Samuel  Hooper,  John  T.  Heard,  Benjamin  Seaver,  Samuel 
T.  Dana. 

Pursuant  to  the  above  call,  the  citizens  of  Boston 
assembled  in  Fanueil  Hall,  on  Wednesday,  October 
27,  at  the  hour  of  noon.  Nothing  could  be  more 
solemn  and  touching  than  the  appearance  of  the  Hall 
and  the  countenances  of  those  who  filled  it.  The 


48  WEBSTER    MEMORIAL. 

windows  had  been  darkened,  and  there  was  no  light 
but  that  of  the  lamps.  The  citizens  entered  slowly 
and  in  silence,  and  conducted,  themselves  as  at  the 
funeral  of  a  friend;  standing  uncovered  during  the 
whole  proceedings,  and  listening  in  profound  stillness, 
broken  only  by  sounds  of  audible  grief.  Not  a  sin- 
gle person  ventured  to  disturb  the  sacred  silence  by 
any  expression  of  applause ;  and  even  the  "  aye  "  of 
response  returned  to  the  resolutions  was  given  faintly, 
and  sounded  like  a  moan.  An  occasion  so  solemn 
rarely  comes  within  any  one's  experience ;  and  the  im- 
pression of  that  meeting  will  never  be  effaced  from 
the  hearts  of  those  who  were  present. 


The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  Hon.  EDWARD 
EVERETT. 

Messrs.  William  Hayden,  Samuel  Hooper,  and  Tho- 
mas Gray  were  appointed  a  Committee,  to  retire  and 
report  a  list  of  permanent  officers.  The  Committee 
subsequently  reported,  — 

For  Presided  —  His  Honor  Benjamin  Seaver,  Mayor 
of  the  City. 

Vice-Presidents  —  Nathan  Appleton,  James  Cheever, 
Robert  G.  Shaw,  Charles  Torrey,  Charles  G.  Greene, 
Peter  Harvey,  Sidney  Bartlett,  Joseph  Tilden,  of 
Ward  Six. 

Secretaries  —  Samuel  Kettell,  J.  Harris  Smith,  Wil- 
liam W.  Greenough,  Samuel  T.  Dana. 

The  Report  having  been  accepted,  and  the  officers 
having  taken  their  seats  on  the  platform,  Mayor  SEAVER 
addressed  the  meeting  as  follows : 


MEETING   IN   FANEUIL   HALL.  49 

Fellow-citizens  —  I  can  do  nothing  more  in  the 
honorable  position  which,  by  your  favor,  has  been 
assigned  me,  than  to  guide  the  proceedings  of  the 
meeting.  The  notice  for  the  meeting  explains  every 
thing.  Will  the  Secretary  please  to  read  it  ? 

Mr.  KETTELL  accordingly  read  the  call. 

The  MAYOR  resumed  his  remarks,  and  said: 

It  is  natural,  on  such  a  call  as  this,  that  the  people 
of  Boston  should  crowd  this  consecrated  hall  to  in- 
dulge in  the  emotions  of  the  heart,  and  mingle  their 
sympathies  on  the  afflictive  event  which  has  fallen  so 
heavily  upon  our  City,  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  and 
the  whole  Country.  It  is  good  for  us  to  be  here.  In 
contemplating  the  character  of  the  illustrious  man, 
whose  death  we  mourn,  we  shall  be  made  better  men, 
better  citizens,  and  be  moved  to  the  more  faithful  dis- 
charge of  duty. 

Daniel  Webster  was  a  constant  and  faithful  friend 
of  Boston,  and  of  all  her  interests  j  they  were  dear 
to  his  heart;  his  labors  and  his  life  afford  the  most 
ample  evidence  of  this.  The  people  of  our  City,  of 
the  State,  and  of  New  England,  are  under  the  strong- 
est obligations  to  him,  and  it  is  their  duty  to  acknow- 
ledge them.  There  is  not  an  individual  here,  be  he 
rich  or  poor,  of  whatever  profession,  whom  he  has  not 
directly  or  indirectly  benefited.  It  is  our  duty  to  re- 
member all  this,  and  cherish  a  grateful  sense  of  the 
benefits  he  has  conferred  upon  us. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact,  which  must  be  present  to 
the  minds  of  most  of  us  to-day,  that  the  last  time  he 
addressed  the  people  of  Boston  in  this  Hall  was  on 
the  22d  of  May  last,  on  the  unanimous  invitation  of 


50  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

the  City  Government,  without  distinction  of  party.  There 
are  some  circumstances  attending  this  invitation  worthy 
to  be  mentioned.  It  was  my  privilege  to  be  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Committee  who  visited  Marshfield,  to  pre- 
sent the  invitation.  We  found  him  suffering  severely 
from  the  accident  which  occurred  only  a  few  days 
prior  to  our  visit.  The  invitation  was  read  to  him,  to 
which  he  listened  with  marked  attention;  and  when 
he  was  told  that  it  was  given  without  distinction  of  party, 
his  eyes  filled  with  tears,  and  he  said,  with  emotion, 
—  "I  shall  accept  the  invitation,  and  will  prepare  an 
answer  to  be  presented  to  the  City  Council."  That 
eloquent  and  touching  letter  you  all  remember;  and 
you  also  remember  his  equally  eloquent  and  interest- 
ing address.  He  was  too  feeble  in  health,  to  make  it 
prudent  for  him  to  leave  his  house ;  but  so  strong  and 
ardent  was  his  desire  to  meet  his  friends  once  more  in 
Faneuil  Hall,  that  he  was  willing  to  risk  all  for  the 
gratification  it  afforded  him.  God  be  thanked  that 
he  had  this  opportunity ! 

But,  fellow-citizens,  we  have  not  met  here  for  the 
purpose  of  entering  into  any  extended  consideration 
of  the  character  of  our  illustrious  friend.  This  is  not 
the  time  to  do  this. 

The  Chair  is  now  ready  to  receive  any  proposition 
that  may  be  made,  to  carry  out  the  object  of  the 
meeting. 

JOHN  T.  HEARD,  Esq.,  then  came  forward,  and  said: 

Mr.  President  —  I  ask  permission  to  present  resolu- 
tions expressive  of  the  feelings  of  this  community, 
occasioned  by  the  death  of  an  illustrious  citizen. 
Daniel  Webster,  the  orator,  statesman,  and  patriot,  he 


MEETING   IN   FANEUIL  HALL.  51 

who  counselled  us  in  wisdom,  is  no  longer  amongst 
us.  That  voice,  which  we  have  so  often  heard  echo 
through  this  hall,  (Faneuil  Hall,)  in  matchless  elo- 
quence, is  silent;  though  its  teachings  of  patriotism, 
and  its  advocacy  of  constitutional  liberty  and  the 
rights  of  man,  will  speak  forever.  The  whirlwind  of 
political  excitement  and  passion  is  hushed ;  and  a 
solemn  utterance  of  heartfelt  sorrow  is  whispered  from 
ear  to  ear.  The  resolutions  will  but  faintly  express 
the  emotions  of  grief  that  pervade  the  breasts  of  the 
mourning  multitude  here  assembled.  I  move,  Mr. 
President,  the  following  resolutions : 

Whereas,  It  has  pleased  Divine  Providence,  to  remove  by  death 
our  late  illustrious  fellow  citizen,  Daniel  Webster,  we,  the  citi- 
zens of  Boston,  in  Faneuil  Hall  assembled,  desirous  of  giving 
utterance  to  those  feelings  of  attachment  and  veneration  which  we 
cherish  for  his  memory,  unanimously  adopt  the  following  resolu- 
tions : 

Resolved,  That  we  are  deeply  sensible  to  the  loss  which  has 
been  sustained,  not  only  by  this  community,  but  the  State  of 
Massachusetts  and  the  whole  Country,  in  the  decease  of  a  man, 
whose  distinguished  talents,  learning,  eloquence,  and  force  of  cha- 
racter, formed  its  brightest  ornament ;  who,  coming  among  us  in 
early  manhood,  with  a  brilliant  reputation  from  a  sister  State, 
rose  by  no  slow  ascent,  till  by  the  decease  of  his  most  eminent 
compeers,  he  stood,  by  all  confession,  the  greatest  of  her  great 
men  ;  that,  whether  we  contemplate  in  him  the  profoundly  learned 
jurist,  the  advocate  endowed  with  all  the  gifts  of  persuasion ;  the 
perfect  master  of  the  English  tongue,  in  all  the  accomplishments 
of  a  scholar,  a  speaker,  and  a  writer;  the  great  interpreter  and 
defender  of  the  Constitution,  whose  luminous  expositions  of  its 
revered  text  are  replete  with  all  the  wisdom  of  the  framers,  and, 
who  in  moments  of  peril,  rescued  and  sustained  what  they  esta- 
blished ;  the  model  American  Statesman,  to  whom  the  entire  range 
of  our  political  and  Constitutional  history,  our  diplomatic  relations 


52  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

and  foreign  affairs,  our  great  territorial,  commercial,  and  indus- 
trial interests  at  home  and  abroad,  were  as  familiar  as  household 
words ;  the  enlightened  patriot,  to  whom  all  parts  of  our  common 
country,  from  North  to  South,  and  from  ocean  to  ocean,  were 
alike  dear ;  who  ever  cherished  with  his  whole  heart  that  Union 
which  makes  us  one  people,  and  to  the  conservation  of  which 
his  whole  life  was  devoted ;  the  philosopher  and  sage,  whose  vol- 
umes will  furnish  lessons  of  instruction,  warning,  and  encourage- 
ment, to  the  latest  posterity ;  the  friend  of  constitutional  freedom 
and  liberty,  protected  by  law,  by  whose  burning  eloquence,  lend- 
ing force  to  public  opinion  throughout  the  world,  arbitrary 
power  has  been  rebuked  in  its  strong-holds,  and  nations  strug- 
gling for  their  rights,  have  been  cheered  and  strengthened ;  that, 
in  fine,  in  whatever  light  we  contemplate  the  great  man  whom 
we  deplore,  we  want  words  to  do  full  justice  to  our  admiration 
of  his  mighty  genius,  our  gratitude  for  his  invaluable  services, 
and  our  abiding  sorrow  over  his  grave. 

Resolved,  While  in  common  with  our  fellow-citizens  throughout 
the  country,  we  lament  the  patriot  and  statesman,  whose  public 
labors  and  services  have  been  of  the  utmost  value  to  the  country, 
that  we,  the  inhabitants  of  Boston  and  of  the  Commonwealth  of 
Massachusetts,  the  city  and  State  of  his  adoption,  mourn  for  the 
loss  of  a  fellow-citizen,  a  neighbor,  a  companion,  a  friend,  whose 
great  heart  was  the  dwelling  of  all  the  generous  feelings;  who 
delighted  to  unbend  from  the  cares  of  state,  and  partake  in  the 
home-bred  relaxations  of  private  life ;  who,  as  a  scientific  and  in- 
telligent farmer,  afforded  to  our  substantial  yeomanry  a  cheering 
example  of  successful  practical  husbandry ;  whose  presence  was 
the  light  and  joy  of  every  friendly  circle;  whose  hospitable  roof 
and  genial  fireside  were  the  abode  of  all  the  domestic  charities 
and  kindly  virtues  of  a  true  New  England  home  ;  and  who,  hav- 
ing evinced  through  life,  a  reverence  for  the  Bible  and  the  ordi- 
nances of  religion,  found  support  in  the  last  trying  hour,  in  the 
hopes  and  promises  of  the  Gospel. 

And,  whereas,  we  are  desirous  of  testifying  our  respect  for  the 
memory  of  the  departed,  by  some  expression  of  our  gratitude  and 
veneration,  which  shall  endure  to  other  times,  and  convey  to  our 
children's  children  a  lively  impression  of  the  feelings,  which  in- 
fluence us.  Be  it  further 


MEETING    IN    FANEUIL    HALL.  53 

Resolved,  That  an  executive  committee  of  one  hundred  persons 
be  appointed  by  the  Chair,  to  be  selected  in  such  manner  as  to 
represent  the  citizens  of  every  pursuit,  calling,  and  party,  whose 
duty  it  shall  be  to  take  such  measures  as  may  be  deemed  expe- 
dient to  provide,  by  the  cooperation  of  the  whole  community,  a 
permanent  memorial  of  our  illustrious  and  lamented  fellow-citizen. 

Resolved,  That  an  attested  copy  of  the  foregoing  resolutions  be 
transmitted  by  the  officers  of  this  meeting,  together  with  a  report 
of  its  proceedings,  to  the  bereaved  family  of  Mr.  Webster,  with 
the  assurance  of  the  heartfelt  and  respectful  sympathy  of  the  citi- 
zens of  Boston  in  their  irreparable  loss. 

Hon.  GEORGE  S.  HILLARD  moved  the  adoption  of 
the  resolutions,  and  said: 

A  great  man  has  passed  away  from  earth.  A  far- 
shining  light  is  extinguished,  and  a  strong  column 
has  fallen.  We,  who  were  guided  by  that  light,  who 
leaned  upon  that  column,  are  left  to  walk  by  fainter 
rays,  to  rest  upon  feebler  supports.  I  am  not  here  to 
pronounce  an  eulogy  upon  Daniel  Webster,  nor  you  to 
hear  one.  A  fresh  grief  is  impatient  of  details.  We 
are  here  to  mourn,  and  not  to  praise  him.  You  need 
not  that  I  should  unfold  to  you  the  treasures  of  his 
greatness.  You  need  not  that  I  should  set  forth  to 
you  his  claims  as  a  jurist,  an  orator,  a  statesman,  and 
a  patriot.  You  know  them  all  too  well.  To  suppose 
you  ignorant  of  them,  is  to  suppose  you  ignorant  of 
the  history  of  your  country,  where  they  are  written 
in  lines  bright  as  the  belt  of  Orion. 

It  is  fitting  for  us  to  be  here  assembled,  with  these 
countenances  of  sadness.  In  the  general  bereavement, 
ours  is  a  particular  loss,  for  he  belonged  to  us.  It  is 
now  thirty  years  since  he  was  sent  by  the  citizens  of 
Boston  to  take  part  in  the  councils  of  the  nation, 


54  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

and  since  that  time  he  has  been  the  foremost  man  in 
this  community.  His  eloquence  has  kindled,  his  wis- 
dom has  guided,  his  experience  has  taught  us.  All 
of  us  have  turned,  again  and  again,  to  look  at  his 
commanding  presence,  which,  however  often  it  might 
be  seen,  seemed  an  ever  new  expression  of  intellect- 
ual power  and  weight  of  character.  Two  generations 
of  children  have  pointed  him  out  to  one  another,  as 
he  moved  along  our  streets.  None  of  us,  who  have 
seen  him,  can  ever  have  any  other  ideal  image  of 
greatness  than  that  which  his  face  and  form  have  left 
upon  our  memories.  He  was  our  pride  and  our  boast, 
whom  we  delighted  to  show  to  the  stranger  as  the 
grandest  growth  of  our  soil  and  our  institutions. 
"  When  the  ear  heard  him,  then  it  blessed  him ;  and 
when  the  eye  saw  him,  it  gave  witness  to  him." 

But  the  influence  which  moved  from  here  has  gone 
forth  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  His  voice  of  wisdom 
and  power,  which  was  at  home  among  us,  has  pene- 
trated wherever  there  was  an  oppressor  to  be  re- 
buked, or  a  victim  to  be  cheered.  Everywhere  it  has 
brought  hope  to  the  struggling  and  the  down-trodden, 
and  confusion  to  the  wrongdoer. 

Not  from  one  land  alone,  not  in  one  tongue  alone, 
will  his  death  be  mourned.  From  the  four  corners 
of  the  globe,  tributes  and  testimony  will  be  gathered 
up.  The  shepherd,  who  tends  his  flock  beneath  the 
clear  skies  of  Greece;  the  cavalier,  that  spurs  over 
the  plains  of  South  America ;  the  Hungarian,  pining 
in  exile,  or  languishing  in  prison, — will  all,  when  they 
hear  of  his  death,  feel  a  common  grief  at  a  common 
loss.  Liberty  will  mourn  a  champion,  humanity  a 
friend. 


MEETING   IN   FANEUIL   HALL.  55 

There  is  a  strong  propriety  in  our  meeting  here, 
to  do  honor  to  the  memory  of  this  great  man.  With 
this  spot  his  image  is  indissolubly  associated.  Here 
we  have  been  accustomed  to  come  together,  to  hang 
upon  his  words,  to  be  guided  by  his  counsels,  and 
sustained  by  his  strength.  Here  you  have,  again  and 
again,  looked  upon  his  majestic  form,  and  that  noble, 
intellectual  countenance,  to  which  no  artist  has  yet 
done  full  justice.  Here  you  have  seen  him  stretch 
forth  that  strong  right  hand  of  his,  as  if  he  were 
hollowing  out  for  the  mountain  streams,  the  channels 
in  which  they  should  flow.  Here  you  have  heard  his 
burning  and  powerful  eloquence,  —  the  lightning  of 
passion  running  along  the  iron  links  of  argument. 
Have  seen,  do  I  say  ?  Have  heard  ?  Surely  you  see 
and  hear  him  now.  Evoked  by  the  potent  genius  of 
the  place,  the  departed  hours  and  the  departed  man 
come  back  again.  We  need  not  that  pictured  can- 
vas to  recall  his  mighty  presence.  In  the  mind's 
eye?  y°u  see  °nce  more  that  heroic  shape,  that  glow- 
ing and  inspired  countenance.  In  the  mind's  ear,  you 
hear  again  that  deeply-freighted  voice,  which  has  so 
often  made  the  hearts  of  thousands  swell  and  throb 
like  one.  The  shadow  of  him  we  have  lost,  is  more 
than  the  living  forms  of  all  who  are  left. 

Great  men  are  among  the  best  gifts  which  God 
bestows  upon  a  people.  In  this  respect,  He  has  not 
hidden  his  face  from  us.  Great  men  have  been  among 
us,  by  whom  we  have  been  led  and  formed  and  up- 
held; men,  wise  in  counsel,  brave  in  action,  earnest 
in  patriotic  purpose,  and  faithful  to  duty.  Washing- 
ton, Hamilton,  Madison,  Jay,  Marshall,  are  illustrious 


56  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

names.  History  has  none  greater  or  "better  to  show. 
And  now  another,  —  a  commensurate  spirit,  —  has 
been  summoned  away  from  the  cares  and  trials  of 
life,  to  take  his  place  by  their  side.  But  we,  that 
stand  looking  with  weeping  eyes  into  his  open  grave, 
should  not  forget  to  thank  God  for  what  we  have 
had,  for  his  threescore  and  ten  years  of  rich  and 
crowded  life,  for  all  that  he  has  done  for  liberty  and 
for  law,  for  the  confidence  which  his  presence  inspir- 
ed, for  the  wisdom  that  saw  the  right,  and  the  firm- 
ness that  maintained  it,  for  his  great  powers  of 
thought  and  speech,  for  the  precious  legacy  of  his 
writings.  Let  us  be  thankful  that  such  hands  have 
shaped  the  moulds  in  which  the  opinions  of  so  many 
have  been  cast. 

It  is  now  almost  half  a  century  since  the  nation 
was  called,  upon  to  mourn  the  sudden  and  appalling 
death  of  the  man  who,  by  the  greatness  of  his  genius, 
and  the  greatness  of  his  services,  suggests  the  most 
obvious  parallel  to  him  who  has  just  been  taken  from 
us.  He  died  in  the  prime  of  his  life,  when  his  coun- 
try had  reason  to  expect  many  more  years  of  valu- 
able labor  and  influence.  He  died  by  what,  if  actions 
derive  their  character  from  the  motives  that  prompt 
them,  may  be  called  a  felon  stroke  and  an  assassin's 
hand.  When  the  news  of  Hamilton's  death  smote 
upon  the  land,  the  general  sorrow  was  mixed  up  with 
a  burning  sense  of  wrong,  with  a  stupefying  shock 
of  surprise,  and  the  wreck  of  high  expectations  sud- 
denly dashed  in  pieces.  Ours  is  a  serener  grief,  for 
ours  is  a  more  natural,  a  more  endurable  bereave- 
ment. Daniel  Webster  had  reached  that  period  of 


MEETING   IN   FANEUIL   HALL.  57 

life,  when  it  becomes  a  man  to  set  his  house  in  or- 
der, and  wait  his  final  summons.  As  year  after  year 
passed  by,  and  found  us  still  leaning  on  his  wisdom 
and  experience,  which  the  growth  of  the  country  and 
its  widening  relations  made  more  and  more  import- 
ant, when  dates  and  the  inexorable  hours  compelled 
us  to  admit  that  he  was  getting  to  be  an  old  man, 
we  could  not  help  sometimes  asking  ourselves,  to 
whom  should  we  turn  when  this  support  should  have 
been  withdrawn?  For  some  time  past,  though  we 
have  struggled  against  the  conviction,  we  have  been 
forced  to  acknowledge  that  time  and  toil  were  mak- 
ing inroads  upon  his  vigorous  frame.  He  has  died 
full  of  years  and  full  of  honor,  with  no  duty  unper- 
formed, and  no  trust  undischarged.  He  has  done  his 
work  and  earned  his  crown.  And  as  we  have  such 
cause  for  gratitude  for  his  long  and  great  life,  so  let 
us  also  be  thankful  for  the  mercy  which  so  ordered 
its  close ;  that  he  died  by  no  lingering  and  painful 
decay,  making  him  dead  while  yet  living ;  that  he 
died  with  all  his  glorious  faculties  unimpaired;  and 
that  this  great  orb,  which  had  so  long  guided  and 
cheered  us  with  its  light,  sunk  below  the  horizon, 
undimmed  by  a  single  cloud. 

And  there  are  other  soothing  and  consoling  reflec- 
tions that  temper  this  stroke.  No  man  knoweth  the 
place  of  his  sepulchre.  In  the  East,  there  is  a  touch- 
ing benediction,  —  May  you  die  among  your  kindred. 
This  blessing  was  given  unto  him.  He  died  as  the 
heart  hopes  to  die.  He  died  in  his  own  home,  amid 
those  scenes  of  natural  beauty  endeared  to  him  by 
the  joys  and  sorrows  of  many  eventful  years,  with 


58  WEBSTER  MEMORIAL. 

the  faces  of  family,  kindred,  and  friends,  around  his 
bed,  religion  pillowing  his  head,  in  that  mellow  and 
pensive  season  of  the  year  so  dear  to  his  thoughtful 
and  tender  spirit,  with  his  own  trees  waving  before 
his  dying  eyes,  and  that  voice  of  the  sea,  which  he 
loved  so  well,  soothing  his  dying  ear: 

For  him   there  is  no  longer  any  future, 

His  life  is  bright;  bright  without  spot  it  was, 

And  cannot  cease  to  be.    No  ominous  hour 

Knocks  at  his  door  with  tidings  of  mishap. 

Far  off  is  he,  above  desire  and  fear ; 

No  more  submitted  to  the  chance  and  change 

Of  the  unsteady  planets.     Oh  'tis  well 

With  him !    But  who  knows  what  the  coming  hour, 

Veiled  in  thick  darkness,  brings  for  us. 

Yes,  my  friends,  for  us.  These  words  are  not  inap- 
propriate to  the  hour  and  the  place.  We  are  a  great, 
a  powerful,  a  prosperous  people ;  but  there  are  dan- 
gers in  our  path,  and  we  know  not  what  is  hidden 
in  the  darkness  of  the  coming  hours.  When  we  shall 
have  discharged  the  last  sad  duty  to  this  great  states- 
man and  patriot,  and  laid  that  illustrious  head  in  the 
grave,  who  can  fail  to  offer  up  a  fervent  supplication, 
that  a  double  portion  of  his  spirit  may  be  upon  us ! 
May  his  influence  help  to  save  us  from  the  evils  of 
selfish  ambition,  of  grasping  injustice,  of  headlong 
fanaticism.  May  he  continue  to  infuse  into  our  coun- 
cils the  spirit  of  wisdom,  the  spirit  of  justice,  and  the 
spirit  of  peace. 

What  living  man  is  so  eloquent  as  death !  What 
living  lips  can  speak  like  those  on  which  the  grave 
has  set  its  seal  of  silence!  From  the  book  of  Job 


MEETING   IN   FANEUIL   HALL.  59 

to  the  newspaper  of  to-day,  the  same  teachings  have 
been  drawn  from  the  dread  presence,  which  no  cus- 
tom can  make  familiar.  The  cold  and  rigid  frame, 
the  mute  tongue,  the  dim  eye,  the  powerless  hand, 
have  ever  given  occasion  to  poets  and  moralists  to 
discourse  on  the  vanity  of  human  wishes  and  the  sha- 
dowy nature  of  human  hopes.  But  the  death  of  the 
great  and  good  has  other  lessons  than  these.  While 
it  teaches  impressively,  that  that  which  is  mortal  must 
die ;  it  teaches  also,  not  less  impressively,  that  that 
which  is  immortal,  shall  not  taste  of  death.  "I  still 
live,"  were  among  the  last  words  of  Webster.  They 
are  yet  true.  His  works,  his  words,  his  examples,  his 
life,  still  live.  A  death  like  his,  so  simply,  so  serene- 
ly great,  —  brightened  by  hope  and  faith  and  love, 
dignified  with  the  perfect  possession  of  such  glorious 
powers,  is  not  so  much  the  close  of  one  day  as  the 
dawn  of  another ;  not  so  much  the  putting  off  of  mor- 
tality, as  the  putting  on  of  immortality.  When  we 
read  of  such  an  euthanasia,  we  seem  to  hear  a  voice 
from  the  sky,  which  says,  "Lift  up  that  dejected 
brow,  and  the  hands  which  are  cast  down.  The  death 
which  you  lament  is  but  a  great  event  in  the  life  of 
the  soul.  It  is  a  change,  and  not  a  dissolution.  It 
is  the  gate  to  a  new  sphere,  in  which  the  mind,  en- 
riched with  larger  powers,  shall  enter  upon  broader 
fields  of  action  and  duty,  where  nobler  struggles  shall 
task  the  strength,  and  more  precious  crowns  reward 
the  victory ;  where  the  hopes  and  the  dreams  of  earth 
shall  be  turned  to  sight,  and  the  broken  circles  of 
life  be  rounded  to  the  perfect  orb." 


60  WEBSTER  MEMORIAL. 

Hon.  EDWARD  EVERETT  then  spoke  as  follows : 
Mr.  Mayor  and  Fellow-Citizens  —  I  never  rose  to 
address  an  assembly  when  I  was  so  little  fit,  body 
or  mind,  to  perform  the  duty ;  and  I  never  felt  so 
keenly  how  inadequate  are  words  to  express  such  an 
emotion  as  manifestly  pervades  this  meeting,  in  com- 
mon with  the  whole  country.  There  is  but  one  voice 
that  ever  fell  upon  my  ear  which  could  do  justice  to 
such  an  occasion.  That  voice,  alas !  we  shall  hear  no 
more  forever.  No  more  at  the  bar  will  it  unfold  the 
deepest  mysteries  of  the  law ;  no  more  will  it  speak 
conviction  to  admiring  Senates ;  no  more  in  this  hall, 
the  chosen  theatre  of  his  intellectual  dominion,  will  it 
lift  the  soul  as  with  the  swell  of  the  pealing  organ, 
or  stir  the  blood  with  the  tones  of  a  clarion,  in  the 
inmost  chambers  of  the  heart, 

We  are  assembled,  fellow-citizens,  to  pour  out  the 
fulness  of  our  feelings ;  not  in  the  vain  attempt  to 
do  honor  to  the  great  man  who  is  taken  from  us ; 
most  assuredly  not  with  the  presumptuous  hope  on  my 
part  to  magnify  his  name  and  his  praise.  They  are 
spread  throughout  the  Union.  From  East  to  West, 
and  from  North  to  South,  (which  he  knew,  as  he  told 
you,  only  that  he  might  embrace  them  in  the  arms  of 
a  loving  patriotism,)  a  voice  of  lamentation  has  al- 
ready gone  forth,  such  as  has  not  echoed  through  the 
land  since  the  death  of  him  who  was  first  in  war, 
first  in  peace,  and  first  in  the  hearts  of  his  country- 
men. 

You  have  listened,  fellow-citizens,  to  the  resolutions 
which  have  been  submitted  to  you  by  Col.  Heard.  I 
thank  him  for  offering  them.  It  does  honor  to  his 


MEETING   IN   FANEUIL   HALL.  61 

heart,  and  to  those  with  whom  he  acts  in  politics, 
and  whom  I  have  no  doubt  he  well  represents,  that 
he  has  stepped  forward  so  liberally  on  this  occasion. 
The  resolutions  are  emphatic,  sir,  but  I  feel  that  they 
do  not  say  too  much.  No  one  will  think  they  over- 
state the  magnitude  of  our  loss.  Who  that  is  capa- 
ble of  appreciating  a  character  like  that  of  Daniel 
Webster ;  who  of  us,  fellow-citizens,  that  has  known 
him  —  that  has  witnessed  the  masterly  skill  with 
which  he  would  pour  the  full  effulgence  of  his  mind 
on  some  contested  legal  and  constitutional  principle, 
till  what  seemed  hard  and  obscure  became  as  plain 
as  day ;  who  that  has  seen  him,  in  all  the  glory  of 
intellectual  ascendency, 

Ride  on  the  -whirlwind  and  direct  the  storm 

of  parliamentary  conflict ;  who  that  has  drank  of  the 
pure  fountains  of  wisdom  and  thought  in  the  volumes 
of  his  writings ;  who  alas,  sir,  that  has  seen  him 

in  his  happier  hour 
Of  social  pleasure,  ill-exchanged  for  power, 

that  has  come  within  the  benignant  fascination  of  his 
smile,  has  felt  the  pressure  of  his  hand,  and  tasted 
the  sweets  of  his  fireside  eloquence,  will  think  that 
the  resolutions  say  too  much  ? 

No,  fellow-citizens,  we  come  together  not  to  do 
honor  to  him,  but  to  do  justice  to  ourselves.  We 
obey  an  impulse  from  within.  Such  a  feeling  can- 
not be  pent  up  in  solitude.  We  must  meet,  neigh- 
bor with  neighbor,  citizen  with  citizen,  man  with  man, 
to  sympathize  with  each  other.  If  we  did  not,  mute 
Nature  would  rebuke  us.  The  granite  hills  of  New 


62  WEBSTEB   MEMORIAL. 

Hampshire,  within  whose  shadow  he  drew  his  first 
breath,  would  cry  shame  ;  Plymouth  Rock,  which  all 
but  moved  at  his  approach;  the  slumbering  echoes 
of  this  hall,  which  rung  so  grandly  with  his  voice ; 
that  "  silent  but  majestic  orator,"  which  rose  in  no 
mean  degree  at  his  command  on  Bunker  Hill  —  all, 
all  would  cry  out  at  our  degeneracy  and  ingratitude. 
Mr.  Chairman,  I  do  not  stand  here  to  pro- 
nounce the  eulogy  of  Mr.  Webster ;  it  is  not  neces- 
sary. Eulogy  has  already  performed  her  first  offices 
to  his  memory.  As  the  mournful  tidings  have  flashed 
through  the  country,  the  highest  officers  of  Nation 
and  State,  the  most  dignified  official  bodies,  the  most 
prominent  individuals,  without  distinction  of  party, 
the  press  of  the  country,  the  great  voice  of  the  land, 
all  have  spoken,  and  with  one  accord  of  opinion  and 
feeling ;  and  an  unanimity  that  does  honor  at  once 
to  the  object  of  this  touching  attestation,  and  to  those 
who  make  it.  The  record  of  his  life,  from  the  hum- 
ble roof  beneath  which  he  was  born,  (with  no  inherit- 
ance but  poverty  and  an  honored  name,)  up  through 
the  arduous  paths  of  manhood,  which  he  trod  with 
lion  heart  and  giant  steps,  till  they  conducted  him 
to  the  helm  of  State  —  this  stirring  narrative,  not 
unfamiliar  before,  has,  with  melancholy  promptitude, 
within  the  last  three  days,  been  again  sent  abroad 
through  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land.  It  has 
spread  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Mississippi.  Strug- 
gling poverty  has  been  cheered  afresh ;  honest  am- 
bition has  been  kindled ;  patriotic  resolve  has  been 
invigorated ;  while  all  have  mourned.  The  poor  boy 
at  the  village  school  has  taken  comfort  as  he  has 


MEETING   IN   FANEUIL   HALL.  63 

read  that  the  time  was  when  Daniel  Webster,  whose 
father  told  him  he  should  go  to  college  if  he  had  to 
sell  every  acre  of  his  farm  to  pay  the  expense,  laid 
his  head  on  the  shoulder  of  that  fond  and  discerning 
parent,  and  wept  the  thanks  he  could  not  speak.  The 
pale  student,  who  ekes  out  his  scanty  support  by 
extra  toil,  has  gathered  comfort  when  reminded  that 
the  first  Jurist,  Statesman,  and  Orator  of  the  time 
earned  with  his  weary  fingers  by  the  midnight  lamp 
the  means  of  securing  the  same  advantages  of  educa- 
tion to  a  beloved  brother.  Every  true-hearted  citizen 
throughout  the  Union  has  felt  an  honest  pride,  as  he 
reperuses  the  narrative,  in  reflecting  that  he  lives  be- 
neath a  Constitution  and  a  Government  under  which 
such  a  man  has  been  formed  and  trained,  and  that 
he  himself  is  compatriot  with  him.  He  does  more, 
sir ;  he  reflects  with  gratitude  that  in  consequence  of 
what  that  man  has  done,  and  written,  and  said  —  in 
the  result  of  his  efforts  to  strengthen  the  pillars  of 
the  Union  —  a  safer  inheritance  of  civil  liberty,  a 
stronger  assurance  that  these  blessings  will  endure, 
will  descend  to  his  children. 

I  know,  Mr.  Mayor,  how  presumptuous  it  would  be 
to  dwell  on  any  personal  causes  of  grief,  in  the  pre- 
sence of  this  august  sorrow,  which  spreads  its  dark 
wings  over  the  land.  You  will  not,  however,  be  of- 
fended if,  by  way  of  apology  for  putting  myself  for- 
ward on  this  occasion,  I  say  that  my  relations  with 
Mr.  Webster  run  further  back  than  those  of  almost 
any  one  in  this  community.  They  began  the  first 
year  he  came  to  live  in  Boston.  When  I  was  but 
ten  or  eleven  years  old,  I  attended  a  little  private 


64  WEBSTER  MEMORIAL. 

school  in  Short  Street,  (as  it  was  then  called,  it  is 
now  the  continuation  of  Kingston  Street,)  kept  by 
the  late  Hon.  Ezekiel  Webster,  the  elder  brother,  to 
whom  I  have  alluded,  and  a  brother  worthy  of  his 
kindred.  Owing  to  illness,  or  some  other  cause  of 
absence  on  his  part,  the  school  was  kept  for  a  short 
time  by  Daniel  Webster,  then  a  student  of  law  in  Mr. 
Gore's  office ;  and  on  this  occasion,  forty-seven  or  eight 
years  ago,  and  I  a  child  of  ten,  our  acquaintance,  since 
then  never  interrupted,  began. 

When  I  entered  public  life,  it  was  with  his  encou- 
ragement. In  1838  I  acted,  fellow-citizens,  as  your 
organ  in  the  great  ovation  which  you  gave  him  in 
this  hall.  When  he  came  to  the  Department  of  State, 
in  1841,  it  was  on  his  recommendation  that  I, 
living  in  the  utmost  privacy  beyond  the  Alps,  was 
appointed  to  a  very  high  office  abroad ;  and,  in  the 
course  of  the  last  year,  he  gave  me  the  highest  proof 
of  his  confidence,  in  intrusting  to  me  the  care  of  con- 
ducting his  works  through  the  press.  May  I  venture, 
Sir,  to  add,  that  in  the  last  letter  but  one  which  I  had 
the  happiness  to  receive  from  him,  alluding,  with  a 
kind  of  sad  presentiment,  which  I  could  not  then 
fully  appreciate,  but  which  now  unmans  me,  to  these 
kindly  relations  of  half  a  century,  he  adds,  — "  We 
now  and  then  see  stretching  across  the  heavens  a 
clear,  blue,  cerulean  sky,  without  cloud,  or  mist,  or 
haze.  And  such  appears  to  me  our  acquaintance,  from 
the  time  when  I  heard  you  for  a  week  recite  your 
lessons  in  the  little  school-house  in  Short  Street  to 
the  date  hereof,"  21st  July,  1852. 

Mr.  Chairman,  I  do  not  dwell  upon  the  traits   of 


MEETING   IN   FANEUIL   HALL.  65 

Mr.  Webster's  public  character,  however  tempting  the 
theme.  Its  bright  developments,  in  a  long  life  of  ser- 
vice, are  before  the  world;  they  are  wrought  into  the 
annals  of  the  country.  Whoever,  in  after  times,  shall 
write  the  history  of  the  United  States  for  the  last 
forty  years,  will  write  the  life  of  Daniel  Webster ; 
and  whoever  writes  the  life  of  Daniel  Webster  as  it 
ought  to  be  written,  will  write  the  history  of  the 
Union  from  the  time  he  took  a  leading  part  in  its 
concerns.  I  prefer  to  allude  to  those  private  traits 
which  show  the  MAN,  the  kindness  of  his  heart,  the 
generosity  of  his  spirit,  his  freedom  from  all  the  bit- 
terness of  party,  the  unaffected  gentleness  of  his  na- 
ture. In  preparing  the  new  edition  of  his  works,  he 
thought  proper  to  leave  almost  every  thing  to  my  dis- 
cretion, as  far  as  matters  of  taste  are  concerned.  One 
thing  only  he  enjoined  upon  me,  with  an  earnestness 
approaching  to  a  command.  "My  friend,"  said  he,  "I 
wish  to  perpetuate  no  feuds.  I  have  lived  a  life  of 
strenuous  political  warfare.  I  have  sometimes,  though 
rarely,  and  that  in  self-defence,  been  led  to  speak  of 
others  with  severity;  I  beg  you,  where  you  can  do  it 
without  wholly  changing  the  character  of  the  speech, 
and  thus  doing  essential  injustice  to  me,  to  obliterate 
every  trace  of  personality  of  this  kind.  I  should 
prefer  not  to  leave  a  word  that  would  give  unneces- 
sary pain  to  any  honest  man,  however  opposed  to 
me." 

But  I  need  not  tell  you,  fellow-citizens,  that  there 
is  no  one  of  our  distinguished  public  men  whose 
speeches  contain  less  occasion  for  such  an  injunction. 
Mr.  Webster  habitually  rejected  the  use  of  the  poi- 


66  WEBSTER    MEMORIAL. 

soned  weapons  of  personal  invective  or  party  odium. 
No  one  could  more  studiously  abstain  from  all  at- 
tempts to  make  a  political  opponent  personally  hate- 
ful. If  the  character  of  our  Congressional  discussions 
has  of  late  years  somewhat  declined  in  dignity,  no 
portion  of  the  blame  lies  at  his  door.  With  Mr.  Cal- 
houn,  who  for  a  considerable  portion  of  the  time  was 
his  chief  antagonist,  and  with  whom  he  was  brought 
into  most  direct  collision,  he  maintained  friendly 
personal  relations.  He  did  full  justice  to  his  talents 
and  character.  You  remember  the  feeling  with  which 
he  spoke  of  him  at  the  time  of  his  decease.  Mr.  Cal- 
houn,  in  his  turn,  entertained  a  just  estimate  of  his 
great  opponent's  worth.  He  said,  toward  the  close  of 
his  life,  that  of  all  the  leading  men  of  the  day,  "  there 
was  not  one  whose  political  course  had  been  more 
strongly  marked  by  a  strict  regard  to  truth  and  honor 
than  Mr.  Webster's." 

One  of  the  resolutions  speaks  of  a  permanent  me- 
morial to  Mr.  Webster.  I  do  not  know  what  is  con- 
templated, but  I  trust  that  such  a  memorial  there  will 
be.  I  trust  that  marble  and  brass,  in  the  hands  of 
the  most  skilful  artists  our  country  has  produced,  will 
be  put  in  requisition  to  reproduce  to  us,  —  and  no- 
where so  appropriately  as  in  this  hall,  —  the  linea- 
ments of  that  noble  form  and  beaming  countenance, 
on  which  we  have  so  often  gazed  with  delight.  But, 
after  all,  fellow-citizens,  the  noblest  monument  must 
be  found  in  his  works.  There  he  will  live  and  speak 
to  us  and  our  children,  when  brass  and  marble  have 
crumbled  into  dust.  As  a  repository  of  political  truth 
and  practical  wisdom,  applied  to  the  affairs  of  govern- 


MEETING    IN   FANEUIL   HALL.  67 

nient,  I  know  not  where  we  shall  find  their  equal. 
The  works  of  Burke  naturally  suggest  themselves  to 
the  mind,  as  the  only  writings  in  our  language  that 
can  sustain  the  comparison.  Certainly  no  composi- 
tions in  the  English  tongue  can  take  precedence  of 
those  of  Burke,  in  depth  of  thought,  reach  of  fore- 
east>  or  magnificence  of  style.  I  think,  however,  it 
may  be  said  without  partiality,  either  national  or 
personal,  that  while  the  reader  is  cloyed,  at  last,  with 
the  gorgeous  finish  of  Burke's  diction,  there  is  a  se- 
vere simplicity  and  a  significant  plainness  in  Web- 
ster's writing,  that  never  tires.  It  is  precisely  this 
which  characterizes  the  statesman,  in  distinction  from 
the  political  philosopher.  In  political  disquisition,  ela- 
borated in  the  closet,  the  palm  must,  perhaps,  be 
awarded  to  Burke  over  all  others,  ancient  or  modern. 
But  in  the  actual  conflicts  of  the  Senate,  man  against 
man,  and  opinion  against  opinion ;  in  the  noble  war 
of  debate,  where  measures  are  to  be  sustained  and 
opposed,  on  which  the  welfare  of  the  country  and  the 
peace  of  the  world  depend,  where  often  the  line  of 
intellectual  battle  is  changed  in  a  moment ;  no  time 
to  reflect,  no  leisure  to  cull  words,  or  gather  up  il- 
lustrations, but  all  to  be  decided  by  a  vote,  although 
the  reputation  of  a  life  may  be  at  stake,  —  all  this 
is  a  very  different  matter,  and  here  Mr.  Webster  was 
immeasurably  the  superior.  Accordingly,  we  find,  his- 
torically, (incredible  as  it  sounds,  and  what  I  am  ready 
to  say  I  will  not  believe,  though  it  is  unquestionably 
true,)  that  these  inimitable  orations  of  Burke,  which 
one  cannot  read  without  a  thrill  of  admiration  to  his  fin- 
gers' ends,  actually  emptied  the  benches  of  parliament. 


68  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

Ah,  gentlemen,  it  was  very  different  with  our  great 
parliamentary  orator.  He  not  only  chained  to  their 
seats  willing,  or,  if  there  were  such  a  thing,  unwil- 
ling Senators,  but  the  largest  hall  was  too  small  for 
his  audience.  On  the  memorable  7th  of  March,  1850, 
when  he  was  expected  to  speak  upon  the  great  ques- 
tions then  pending  before  the  country,  not  only  was 
the  Senate  Chamber  thronged  to  its  utmost  capacity 
at  an  early  hour,  but  all  the  passages  to  it,  the  Ro- 
tundo  of  the  Capitol,  and  even  the  avenues  of  the 
city,  were  alive  with  the  crowds  who  were  desirous 
of  gaining  admittance.  Another  Senator,  not  a  poli- 
tical friend,  was  entitled  to  the  floor.  With  equal 
good  taste  and  good  feeling,  he  stated  that  "  he  was 
aware  that  the  great  multitude  had  not  come  toge- 
ther to  hear  him ;  and  he  was  pleased  to  yield  the 
floor  to  the  only  man,  as  he  believed,  who  could  draw 
together  such  an  assembly."  This  sentiment,  —  the 
effusion  of  parliamentary  courtesy,  —  will,  perhaps,  be 
found  no  inadequate  expression  of  what  will  finally 
be  the  judgment  of  posterity. 

Among  the  many  memorable  words  which  fell  from 
the  lips  of  our  friend  just  before  they  were  closed 
forever,  the  most  remarkable  are  those  which  my 
friend  Hillard  has  just  quoted,  "I  STILL  LIVE."  They 
attest  the  serene  composure  of  his  mind,  the  Chris- 
tian heroism,  with  which  he  was  able  to  turn  his  con- 
sciousness in  upon  itself,  and  explore,  step  by  step, 
the  dark  passage,  (dark  to  us,  but  to  him  we  trust 
already  lighted  from  above,)  which  connects  this  world 
with  the  world  to  come.  But  I  know  not,  Mr.  Chair- 
man, what  words  could  have  been  better  chosen  to 


MEETING   IN   FANEUIL   HALL.  69 

express  his  relation  to  the  world  he  was  leaving:  "I 
still  live.  This  poor  dust  is  just  returning  to  the  dust 
from  which  it  was  taken;  but  I  feel  that  I  live*  in 
the  affections  of  the  people  to  whose  service  I  have 
consecrated  my  days.  I  still  live.  The  icy  hand  of 
death  is  already  laid  on  my  heart,  but  I  shall  still 
live  in  those  words  of  faithful  counsel  which  I  have 
uttered  to  my  fellow-citizens,  and  which  I  now  leave 
them  as  the  last  bequest  of  a  dying  friend." 

Mr.  Chairman,  in  the  long  and  honored  career  of 
our  lamented  friend  there  are  efforts  and  triumphs 
which  will  hereafter  fill  one  of  the  brightest  pages 
in  our  history.  But  I  greatly  err  if  the  closing 
scene  —  the  height  of  the  religious  sublime  —  does 
not,  in  the  judgment  of  other  days,  far  transcend  in 
interest  the  brightest  exploits  of  public  life.  Within 
that  darkened  chamber  at  Marshfield,  was  witnessed 
a  scene  of  which  we  shall  not  readily  find  the  paral- 
lel. The  serenity  with  which  he  stood  in  the  pre- 
sence of  the  King  of  Terrors,  without  trepidation 
or  flutter,  for  hours  and  days  of  expectation  ;  the 
thoughtfulness  for  the  public  business,  when  the 
sands  were  so  nearly  run  out ;  the  hospitable  care 
for  the  reception  of  the  friends  who  came  to  Marsh- 
field  ;  that  affectionate  and  solemn  leave  separately 
taken,  name  by  name,  of  wife,  and  children,  and  kin- 
dred, and  friends,  and  family,  down  to  the  humblest 
members  of  the  household;  the  designation  of  the 
coming  day,  then  near  at  hand,  when  "all  that  was 
mortal  of  Daniel  Webster  would  cease  to  exist;"  the 
dimly-recollected  strains  of  the  funereal  poetry  of  Gray, 
the  last  faint  flash  of  the  soaring  intellect;  the  feebly 


70  WEBSTEK   MEMORIAL. 

murmured  words  of  Holy  Writ  repeated  from  the  lips 
of  the  good  physician,  who,  when  all  the  resources  of 
human  art  had  been  exhausted,  had  a  drop  of  spirit- 
ual balm  for  the  parting  soul ;  the  clasped  hands ; 
the  dying  prayer.  Oh!  iny  fellow-citizens,  that  is  a 
consummation  over  which  tears  of  pious  sympathy 
will  be  shed,  ages  after  the  glories  of  the  Forum  and 
the  Senate  are  forgotten. 

His  sufferings  ended   with  the   day, 

Yet  lived  he  at  its  close  ; 
And   breathed  the   long,   long   night   away, 

In  statue-like  repose. 

But  ere  the  sun,  in  all  his  state, 

Illumed  the   eastern  skies, 
He  passed  through  glory's  morning  gate, 

And  walked  in  Paradise. 

The  resolutions  were  then  adopted. 
The  Hon.  WILLIAM  APPLETON   submitted  the  follow- 
ing resolve,   which  was  likewise  adopted : 

JKesolved,  That  as  a  token  of  respect  for  the  memory  of  Mr. 
Webster,  this  meeting  recommend  that  the  banks,  insurance  offices, 
and  other  places  of  business  be  closed  on  Friday  next. 

The  MAYOR  announced  the   Committee  of  one  hun- 
dred, as  follows  : 

Thos.  H.  Perkins  John  H.  Pearson  Benjamin  Luring 

Geo.  Ticknor  Samuel  Hooper  Nathan  Hale 

Edward  Everett  John  P.  Ober  Saml.  A.  Eliot 

Nathan  Appleton  Vernon  Brown  William  Appleton 

Abbott  Lawrence  J.  Thos.  Stevenson  William  Amory 

Benjamin  Seaver  C.  P.  Curtis  Chas.  H.  Mills 

Amos  Lawrence  Chas.  J.  Hendee  A.  Hemmenway 

Francis  C.  Gray  James  K.  Mills  Francis  Skinner 

Samuel  Lawrence  Francis  C.  Lowell  Chas.  L.  Woodbury 


MEETING   IN    FANEUIL   HALL. 


71 


Robert  G.  Shaw 
John  T.  Heard 
Franklin  Haven 
Chas.  G.  Greene 
Jno.  C.  Warren 
Jno.  E.  Thayer 
Thos.  W.  Ward 
Jno.  A.  Lowell 
Saral.  D.  Bradford 
Robert  B.  Storer 
Peter  Harvey 
Enoch  Train 
John  M.  Forbes 
Levi  A.  Dowley 
Moses  Williams 
Albert  Fearing 
L.  W.  Tappan 
Henry  K.  Horton 
Samuel  T.  Dana 
W.  W.  Greenough 
Daniel  Safford 
Jno.  P.  Thorndike 
Wra.  Hayden 
Geo.  T.  Curtis 
Jacob  Sleeper 


E.  F.  Raymond 
W.  H.  Lamed 
M.  C.  Barstow 
S.  C.  Allen 
Julius  A.  Palmer 
Jno.  C.  Tucker 
James  Cheever 
Geo.  B.  Upton 
Geo.  R.  Sampson 
William  Sturgis 
Ozias  Goodwin 
Paran  Stevens 
H.  J.  Gardner 
C.  C.  Felton 
Geo.  T.  Lyman 
H.  M.  Holbrook 
Wm.  T.  Eustis. 
Thos.  T.  Whittemore 
William  Almy 
Joseph  Packard 
N.  A.  Thompson 
Chas.  Larkin 
Wm.  Thomas 
John  Jeffries 
Amos  A.  Lawrence 


Samuel  Henshaw 
Benjamin  F.  Hallett 
Samuel  Kettell 
C.  R.  Ransom 
Geo.  Peabody 
Thomas  B.  Wales 
Samuel  Whitwell 
P.  W.  Chandler 
John  W.  Trull 
James  Whiting 
Eliphalet  Jones 
Silas  Pearce 
Geo.  W.  Crockett 
Andrew  Carney 
II.  H.  Hunnewell 
James  Lawrence 
J.  W.  James 
Jonas  Chickering 
Peter  Dunbar 
Arthur  Pickering 
Henry  Crocker 
Benjamin  Smith 
Ezra  Forristall 
Thomas  B.  Curtis 


The  meeting,  after  approving  of  this  list  of  names, 
adjourned. 


PROCEEDINGS 


OF   THE 


CIRCUIT  COURT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 


FOR    THE 


DISTRICT   OF  MASSACHUSETTS. 


10 


PROCEEDINGS   OF  THE    CIRCUIT   COURT   FOR 
THE   DISTRICT   OF   MASSACHUSETTS. 


THE  members  of  the  Bar  met  in  the  Law  Library, 
Monday  morning,  October  25.  They  were  called  to 
order  by  the  Hon.  George  Lunt,  District  Attorney  of 
the  United  States,  and  Hon.  Charles  G.  Loring  was 
appointed  Chairman,  and  Francis  0.  Watts,  Esq.,  Se- 
cretary. Hon.  Rufus  Choate,  Sydney  Bartlett,  Esq., 
Hon.  George  S.  Hillard,  Richard  H.  Dana,  Jr.,  and 
George  T.  Curtis,  Esquires,  were  appointed  to  report 
resolutions  at  a  future  meeting.  Tuesday  morning, 
at  the  adjourned  meeting,  Hon.  Simon  Greenleaf,  John 
P.  Putnam,  and  Tolman  Willey,  Esquires,  were  added 
to  the  committee.  Thursday,  October  28th,  the  Bar 
again  met  in  the  Supreme  Court  Room,  and  the  reso- 
lutions given  below  were  reported  and  adopted,  when 
the  meeting  adjourned  to  the  Circuit  Court  —  then  in 
session  —  CURTIS  and  SPRAGUE,  Justices,  on  the  bench. 
The  room  was  crowded  to  overflowing.  The  Hon. 
GEORGE  LUNT  announced  to  the  Court  the  death  of 
Mr.  Webster,  as  follows: 

May  it  please  your  Honors  —  I  have  the  sad  duty  to 
announce,  as  Attorney  of  the  United  States  for  this 


76  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

district,  the  removal  of  Daniel  Webster,  the  great 
leader  and  exemplar  of  this  Bar,  by  death.  The  per- 
formance of  the  mournful  duty  thus  devolved  upon 
me,  results  from  my  official  position,  and  is  in  accord- 
ance with  the  usages  of  the  Bar.  But  I  should  do 
dishonor  to  my  own  feelings,  did  I  not  at  the  same 
time  signify  that  my  heart  beats  in  unison  with  all 
other  hearts,  under  the  pressure  of  so  great  a  cala- 
mity. And,  while  I  discharge  this  office,  I  only  feel 
how  inadequate  must  be  every  tribute  of  respect  to 
the  memory  of  that  illustrious  citizen,  whose  public 
life  for  so  long  a  period  has  constituted  one  of  the 
chief  elements  of  the  pride  and  glory  of  his  country. 
But,  feeling  only  too  sensibly,  that  what  belongs  to 
me  in  this  public  expression  of  sorrow  arises  only 
from  the  accident  of  my  position,  I  am  equally  sen- 
sible that  it  does  not  become  me  to  assume  the  place 
of  his  eulogist,  whose  fame  is  indeed  beyond  all 
eulogy. 

It  is  impossible  not  to  be  conscious  that  a  glory 
has  departed  which  blazes  rarely  in  the  successive 
centuries  of  time.  And  as  in  the  disruption  of  pri- 
vate ties,  we  turn  in  vain  to  those  who  remain  for 
relief,  so  in  the  departure  of  this  great  personage, 
singularly  unequalled  and  unapproached  by  all  others 
of  his  time,  we  feel  that  a  vast  and  "aching  void" 
will  long  be  left  unsatisfied  in  the  beating  heart  of  a 
nation. 

But  it  is  a  source  of  satisfaction  to  me  that  there 
are  present  those  members  of  this  Bar  who  for  many 
years  have  enjoyed  the  more  intimate  communion  of 
this  majestic  spirit.  They  have  been  animated  and 


PROCEEDINGS    OF   THE   CIRCUIT    COURT.  77 

elevated,  and  inspired  by  the  sublime  intellect  of  him 
whose  record  has  long  been  written  amongst 

The  few,  the  immortal  names, 
Which  were  not  born  to  die. 

To  them  I  would  respectfully  leave  what  better  be- 
comes those  who  have  nearer  rights  and  higher  capa- 
cities for  so  great  a  theme. 

With  the  permission  of  your  Honors,  I  will  ask 
that,  at  the  close  of  these  proceedings,  this  Circuit 
Court  of  the  United  States  do  adjourn,  and  that  the 
ceremonial  of  this  day  be  entered  upon  its  records. 

The  Hon.  CHARLES  G.  LORING  then  addressed  the 
court. 

May  it  please  the  Court  —  I  stand  before  you  as 
the  humble  organ  of  this  Bar,  instructed  to  present 
for  entry  on  your  records  resolutions  passed  at  a  re- 
cent meeting,  expressive  of  our  emotions  upon  the 
death  of  our  illustrious  leader,  whose  departure  fills 
not  only  our,  but  a  nation's  heart  with  grief. 

The  subject,  while  of  profoundest  interest,  is  too 
grand  for  oratory.  The  announcement  that  Daniel 
Webster  is  dead  fills  the  souls  of  all  here  with  recol- 
lections, thoughts,  and  emotions,  which  no  other  words 
could  excite.  The  simple  statement  of  the  event  is 
the  most  appropriate  eloquence.  It  is  in  justice  only 
to  ourselves,  not  to  him,  that  our  feelings  seek  utter- 
ance and  relief  in  words. 

His  name  and  character,  indeed,  belong  to  the 
whole  people  of  the  United  States  of  America,  whom 
he  has  so  long,  so  faithfully,  and  so  gloriously  served, 


78  WEBSTER  MEMORIAL. 

and  not  to  this,  or  any  other  Bar  or  State.  There  is 
not  an  intelligent  citizen  of  this  broad  Republic,  from 
the  Canadas  to  the  Rio  Grande,  or  from  the  Atlantic 
to  the  Pacific,  or  who  sails  beneath  its  flag  in  the 
remotest  sea,  to  whom  knowledge  of  this  event  will 
not  come  as  sad  tidings  of  public  calamity,  —  as 
of  a  tower  of  national  strength  laid  low,  as  of 
a  star  stricken  from  the  firmament  of  his  country's 
glory. 

The  colossal  grandeur  of  his  intellect,  the  vast  num- 
ber and  magnitude  of  his  services  as  a  patriotic  states- 
man, and  his  rank  as  one  of  the  most  profound  reason- 
ers  and  sublime  orators  which  have  appeared  in  any 
age  or  nation;  and  the  influences  he  has  thus  exer- 
cised, and  for  ages  to  come  must  continue  to  exert 
upon  the  mind,  institutions,  and  destinies  of  the  Ameri- 
can people,  are  treasures  of  national  wealth,  and 
themes  for  other  occasions. 

But  with  these  are  inseparably  connected  his  labors 
as  a  jurist,  which  it  becomes  us,  more  particularly,  to 
commemorate  on  this  occasion;  and  which,  although 
less  generally  conspicuous,  even  to  his  contemporaries, 
and  becoming  less  so  as  advancing  time  and  expe- 
rience consecrate  into  axioms  the  great  principles 
which  he  was  primarily  and  chiefly  instrumental  in 
establishing,  are  of  no  less  magnitude  and  importance, 
as  having  led  to  those  judicial  constructions  of  the 
Constitution  which  have  confirmed  it  in  the  confidence 
and  affections  of  the  people  as  a  truly  national  insti- 
tution. These  services,  we  may,  perhaps,  be  the  more 
able  to  appreciate  as  presenting  unequalled  profes- 
sional claims  to  the  lasting  gratitude  of  the  country. 


PROCEEDINGS   OP  THE   CIRCUIT   COURT.  79 

and  the  admiration  and  reverence  of  every  student  of 
its  judicial  history. 

To  Mr.  Webster  are  we  chiefly  indebted  that  the 
aegis  of  the  National  Constitution  has  been  spread  over 
the  rights  of  property  and  franchises  held  under  State 
charters,  protecting  them  alike  from  oppressive,  cor- 
rupt, or  ill-considered  local  legislation;  to  him,  for 
the  first  enunciation  and  maintenance  of  the  great 
theory  of  the  entire  unity  of  the  commercial  relations 
of  the  several  States,  forbidding  monopolies  of  any 
nature  within  the  navigable  waters  of  either;  and  to 
him,  far  beyond  all  others,  in  frequent  political  and 
forensic  arguments,  for  those  masterly  expositions  of 
the  principles  involved  in  the  conflict  of  jurisdictions 
of  the  general  government  and  of  the  individual 
States,  which  will  henceforth  compose,  not  so  much 
weapons  for  conflict,  as  acknowledged  truths  upon 
which  future  questions  shall  be  decided. 

It  is  a  common  subject  of  thankfulness  to  the  Di- 
vine Providence,  which  has  hitherto  so  mercifully 
shaped  our  nation's  destiny,  that  statesmen  were  ori- 
ginally vouchsafed  capable  of  framing  and  administer- 
ing our  National  Constitution;  and  it  is  no  less  a 
cause  of  reverential  gratitude  that,  after  they  were 
gathered  to  their  fathers,  another  was  sent  equally 
imbued  with  its  spirit,  and  profound  apprehension  of 
its  great  principles,  and  their  far-reaching  influences, 
to  apply  them  as  a  statesman  and  jurist  in  the  great 
emergencies  which  were  soon  to  arise,  to  test  its 
adaptation  to  the  vast  ends  for  which  it  was  designed. 

And  history,  in  completing  the  noblest  column  as 
yet  raised  in  her  temple,  that  of  American  constitu- 


80  WEBSTER  MEMORAL. 

tional  liberty,  while  inscribing  upon  its  tablet  the 
names  of  Adams,  Jefferson,  Madison,  Jay,  and  Hamil- 
ton, as  founders  of  the  glorious  fabric,  will  instinct- 
ively add  the  name  of  Daniel  Webster,  as  equally 
entitled  to  the  eternal  gratitude  of  his  countrymen, 
as  its  expositor  and  defender.  But  to  us,  as  members 
of  this  Bar,  who  have  encountered  or  been  associated 
with  him  in  its  arduous  conflicts,  have  witnessed  his 
forensic  efforts,  and  enjoyed  the  privileges  of  social 
intercourse  with  him,  and  who  have  with  such  honest 
pride  exulted  in  him  as  our  head  and  leader,  this 
event  is  of  still  closer  interest.  Who  of  us  can  ever 
forget  his  broad  and  comprehensive  views,  his  clear 
and  masterly  statements  of  his  cases,  in  themselves 
convincing  arguments,  the  exquisite  precision  and  no 
less  wonderful  language,  his  profound  logic,  his  varied 
and  extensive  learning,  his  dignity  of  manner,  and 
his  matchless  eloquence,  his  whole  professional  bear- 
ing? Who  of  us  has  failed  to  exult  as  we  held  our 
breath  in  his  ascent  as  on  eagles'  wings  to  the  high- 
est heavens  of  eloquence,  when  conscious  of  the  right- 
eousness of  his  cause;  or  has  not  witnessed  how 
heavy  became  his  flight  and  drooping  his  pinions 
when  conscious  of  a  bad  one?  Mr.  Webster  could 
not,  and  all  honor  be  to  his  name  that  he  could  not, 
argue  a  bad  cause  comparatively  well.  His  mental 
vision  was  too  penetrating  and  comprehensive,  his  lo- 
gic too  uncompromising,  his  perception  of  truth  too 
clear,  and  his  love  of  it  too  instinctive  to  fit  him  as 
the  champion  of  error. 

Well   may  we   exclaim   in   retrospect   of  his   inter- 
course and  services  at  this  Bar, — 


PROCEEDINGS   OF   THE   CIRCUIT   COURT.  81 

Heu !  quanta  minus  cum  reliquis  versari 
Quam  Tui  meminisse. 

But  I  forbear  further  allusion  to  our  own  bereave- 
ment. Standing,  as  we  are,  amid  the  ruins  of  a  na- 
tion's fortress,  the  shock  of  whose  fall  is  still  vibrat- 
ing throughout  the  land,  the  heart  instinctively  turns 
from  the  meditation  of  comparatively  private  sorrow 
to  the  nation's  loss,  and  to  gathering  up  the  consola- 
tions of  remembrance  and  hope.  True,  the  mighty  arm 
upon  which  we  most  confidently  rested  for  defence 
against  foreign  political  encroachment,  and  to  main- 
tain our  dignity  among  the  nations  of  the  earth,  is 
broken;  the  rock  in  the  political  wilderness  which 
needed  to  be  touched  only  by  the  wand  of  patriotism, 
to  send  forth  gushing  waters  of  wisdom  and  peace  to 
allay  the  fever  of  the  people,  is  removed  out  of  its 
place;  and  the  star  that  has  so  long  guided  in  the 
night  and  tempest  of  national  perplexity  and  agi- 
tation, is  gone  down  forever;  but  the  recorded  trea- 
sures of  his  wisdom  remain  imperishable ;  the  great 
principles  he  has  established  or  vindicated  for  the  na- 
tion's guidance,  now  become,  and  will  forever  stand 
as  household  gods  in  the  hearts  of  the  people.  "I 
still  live ! "  were  the  last  words  of  the  dying  patriot, 
in  prophetic  vision  of  the  immortality  of  his  name  and 
services;  and  he  will  "still  live"  in  influence  and 
grateful  remembrance  so  long  as  the  American  Union 
shall  endure,  and  its  flag  wave  over  an  intelligent  and 
loyal  people. 

Nor  is  the  last  and  highest  consolation  wanting  to 
us.  Our  friend  died  in  the  profession  and  peace  of 
that  faith  which  the  greatest,  equally  with  the  hum- 


11 


82  WEBSTER  MEMORIAL. 

blest,  needs  in  the  scenes  and  labors  of  life,  and  in 
passing  through  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death, 
and  yielded  up  his  mighty  spirit  in  filial  trust  to  the 
God  who  gave  it;  who  alone  knoweth  the  heart  and 
trieth  the  reins  of  man,  and  to  whom  alone,  in  faith 
and  humility,  must  all  judgment  of  our  fellow-men,  as 
well  as  of  ourselves,  be  finally  committed. 

The  Hon.  GEORGE  S.  HILLARD  read  the  following  re- 
solutions of  the  Bar,  and  asked  that  they  be  entered 
upon  the  records  of  the  Court. 

Resolved,  That  as  members  of  the  Bar  we  look  back  with  pride 
upon  Mr.  Webster's  professional  career,  and  acknowledge  with 
gratitude  the  honor  which  such  a  life,  and  such  powers,  have  shed 
upon  the  law.  His  mind  was  early  imbued  with  the  bracing  learn- 
ing of  the  common  law,  the  principles  of  which  he  seized  with  a 
strong  grasp,  which  neither  time,  nor  subsequent  devotion  to  pur- 
suits of  politics  and  government,  ever  relaxed.  He  was  equally 
familiar  with  the  technical  refinements  of  special  pleading,  and 
the  recondite  learning  of  real  law.  Trained  by  long  and  constant 
conflict  with  some  of  the  ablest  lawyers  and  advocates  whom 
this  country  has  reared,  his  judgment  in  the  conduct  of  causes,  his 
familiarity  with  the  rules  of  evidence,  and  his  presence  of  mind 
in  the  meeting  of  legal  emergencies,  were  not  less  conspicuous 
than  the  wisdom  and  eloquence  which  have  made  his  public  career 
so  illustrious.  His  addresses  to  juries  were  marked  by  simplicity, 
clearness,  dignity,  and  power.  His  legal  arguments  were  learned, 
strong,  luminous,  and  convincing.  His  profound  and  massive  con- 
stitutional arguments  embody  the  soundest  principles  of  interpreta- 
tion, and  form  unrivalled  models  of  logical  reasoning.  Hig  mind 
drew  from  the  law  no  other  elements  than  those  of  expansion  and 
growth ;  and  in  the  speeches  and  writings  which  have  done  so  much 
honor  to  him.  and  so  much  honor  to  the  country,  we  recognize 
the  training  and  discipline  derived  from  the  studies  and  the  contests 
of  the  Bar. 

Resolved,  That  as  citizens  of  our  common  country,  we  acknow- 


PROCEEDINGS   OF   THE   CIRCUIT   COURT.  83 

ledge,  with  profound  sensibility,  the  great  debt  of  gratitude  and 
admiration  due  to  him,  as  an  enlightened  and  patriotic  statesman. 
As  a  public  man,  he  was  just,  brave,  and  wise ;  jealous  of  the  honor 
of  his  own  country,  and  mindful  of  the  rights  of  others  ;  far-seeing 
and  sagacious  —  wise  to  discern  the  right,  and  firm  in  maintaining 
it.  His  political  creed  was  the  application  of  the  rules  of  sound 
morals  to  government.  He  valued  constitutional  liberty  because 
he  understood  it,  and  his  powerful  voice  has  penetrated  wherever 
freedom  was  struggling  and  humanity  oppressed.  His  views  were 
broad,  national,  and  comprehensive,  limited  to  no  party,  and  bounded 
by  no  section  of  the  country.  He  detected  with  unrivalled  sagacity 
the  springs  of  national  greatness,  and  expounded  them  with  propor- 
tionate clearness  and  power.  In  counsels  and  principles  like  his, 
we  see  the  elements  of  national  power,  of  material  prosperity,  and 
of  moral  influence.  Nor  should  we,  in  his  more  eminent  and  con- 
spicuous merits,  overlook  the  uniform  dignity  and  decorum  of  his 
public  career,  the  freedom  from  personality,  and  from  appeals  to 
low  and  unworthy  motives,  which  characterize  his  speeches,  and  the 
high  tone  of  thought  and  discussion  which  marks  them. 

Resolved,  That  we  recognize  in  Mr.  "Webster's  life  and  words, 
elements  of  greatness  and  power,  independent  of  his  career  as  a 
lawyer  and  a  statesman.  A  writer,  a  thinker,  and  a  speaker,  his 
influence  has  been  great  while  living,  and  will  be  not  less  great  when 
dead.  His  vigorous  and  masculine  style  was  no  more  than  the  ade- 
quate expression  of  weighty  and  striking  thought.  His  eloquence 
was  simple,  severe,  and  grand,  never  stooping  to  exaggeration  or 
extravagance,  never  lending  itself  to  base  or  unworthy  ends.  His 
writings  are  treasures  of  thought,  pure  in  their  morality,  of  classical 
beauty,  and  ennobling  in  all  their  tendencies.  His  private  life,  not 
less  than  his  public,  illustrated  the  greatness  of  his  character.  In 
all  his  social  and  domestic  relations,  the  varied  and  noble  gifts  of 
his  intellect  and  of  his  heart  shone  conspicuously.  The  generous 
affections  of  friends,  in  which  he  was  so  rich,  attest  the  integrity, 
uprightness,  and  beauty  of  his  daily  walk.  And  when  Heaven 
decreed  that  he  must  close  the  majestic  life  which  he  had  lived,  he 
added  to  that  life  its  crowning  glory,  by  acknowledging  his  humble 
faith  in  the  doctrines  of  Christianity,  and  by  dying  a  Christian's 
death. 


84  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

Resolved,  That  the  Bar  deeply  mourn  the  loss  of  one  so  great  as 
a  statesman,  so  profound  as  a  lawyer,  and  so  noble  as  a  man ;  that 
they  tender  their  heartfelt  sympathies  to  the  family  of  the  deceased, 
and  request  permission  to  join  in  the  funeral  ceremonies. 

Resolved,  That  the  President  of  this  meeting  be  requested  to 
communicate  a  copy  of  these  Resolutions  to  the  family  of  the  de- 
ceased, and  to  present  the  same  in  the  Circuit  Court  of  the  United 
States,  now  in  session. 

The  Hon.  RUFUS  CHOATE  then  said: 

May  it  please  your  Honors — I  have  been  requested 
by  the  members  of  the  Bar  of  this  Court  to  add  a 
few  words  to  the  resolutions  just  read,  in  which  they 
have  embodied,  as  they  were  able,  their  sorrow  for 
the  death  of  their  beloved  and  illustrious  member  and 
countryman,  Mr.  Webster;  their  estimation  of  his  cha- 
racter, life,  and  genius;  their  sense  of  the  bereave- 
ment to  the  country,  as  to  his  friends,  incapable  of 
repair;  the  pride,  the  fondness,  —  the  filial  and  the 
patriotic  pride  and  fondness — with  which  they  cherish, 
and  would  consign  to  history  to  cherish,  the  memory 
of  a  great  and  good  man. 

And  yet,  I  could  earnestly  have  desired  to  be  ex- 
cused from  this  duty.  He  must  have  known  Mr. 
Webster  less,  and  loved  him  less  than  your  Honors, 
or  than  I  have  known  and  loved  him,  who  can  quite 
yet  —  quite  yet  —  before  we  can  comprehend  that  we 
have  lost  him  forever — before  the  first  paleness  with 
which  the  news  of  his  death  overspread  our  cheeks  has 
passed  away;  before  we  have  been  down  to  lay  him 
in  the  Pilgrim  soil  he  loved  so  well  —  till  the  heavens 
be  no  more  — he  must  have  known  and  loved  him 
less  than  we  have  done  —  who  can  come  here  quite 
yet,  to  recount  the  series  of  his  services  —  to  display 


PROCEEDINGS    OP   THE    CIRCUIT    COURT.  So 

with  psychological  exactness  the  traits  of  his  nature 
and  mind ;  to  ponder  and  speculate  on  the  secrets, 
on  the  marvellous  secrets  and  source  of  that  vast 
power,  which  we  shall  see  no  more  in  action  —  nor 
aught  in  any  degree  resembling  it  —  among  men. 
These  first  moments  should  be  given  to  grief.  It 
may  employ,  it  may  promote,  a  calmer  mood,  to  con- 
struct a  more  elaborate  and  less  unworthy  memorial. 

For  the  purposes  of  this  moment  and  place,  indeed, 
no  more  is  needed.  What  is  there  for  this  Court,  or 
for  this  Bar,  to  learn  from  me,  here  and  now  of  him? 
The  year  and  the  day  of  his  birth  —  that  birth-place 
on  the  frontier,  yet  bleak  and  waste ;  the  well  of 
which  his  childhood  drank  —  dug  by  that  father  of 
whom  he  has  said,  "That  through  the  fire  and  blood 
of  seven  years  of  revolutionary  war,  he  shrank  from 
no  danger,  no  toil,  no  sacrifice,  to  serve  his  country, 
and  to  raise  his  children  to  a  condition  better  than 
his  own;"  the  elm  tree  that  father  planted,  fallen 
now,  as  father  and  son  have  fallen;  that  training  of 
the  giant  infancy,  on  Catechism  and  Bible,  and  Watts's 
version  of  the  Psalms,  and  the  traditions  of  Plymouth, 
and  Fort  William  and  Mary,  and  the  Revolution,  and 
the  age  of  Washington  and  Franklin,  on  the  banks 
of  the  Merrimack,  flowing  sometimes  in  flood  and 
anger  from  his  secret  springs  in  the  crystal  hills; 
the  two  district  schoolmasters,  Chase  and  Tappan; 
the  village  library;  the  dawning  of  the  love  and  am- 
bition of  letters ;  the  few  months  at  Exeter  and  Bos- 
cawen,  the  life  of  college,  the  probationary  season  of 
school-teaching,  the  clerkship  in  the  Fryeburg  Registry 
of  Deeds ;  his  admission  to  the  Bar,  presided  over  by 


86  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

judges  like  Smith,  illustrated  by  practisers  such  as 
Mason,  where,  by  the  studies,  in  the  contentions  of 
nine  years,  he  laid  the  foundation  of  the  professional 
mind ;  his  irresistible  attraction  to  public  life,  the 
oration  on  Commerce,  the  Rockingham  Resolutions,  his 
first  term  of  four  years'  service  in  Congress,  when, 
by  one  bound,  he  sprang  to  his  place  by  the  side  of 
the  foremost  of  the  rising  American  statesmen ;  his  re- 
moval to  this  State,  and  then  the  double  and  parallel 
current  in  which  his  life,  studies,  thoughts,  cares,  have 
since  flowed,  bearing  him  to  the  leadership  of  the  Bar 
by  universal  acclaim ;  bearing  him  to  the  leadership 
of  public  life;  last  of  that  surpassing  triumvirate, 
shall  we  say  the  greatest,  the  most  widely  celebrated 
and  admired ;  —  all  these  things,  to  their  minutest 
details,  are  known  and  rehearsed  familiarly.  Happier 
than  the  younger  Pliny,  happier  than  Cicero,  he  has 
found  his  historian,  unsolicited,  in  his  lifetime  —  and 
his  countrymen  have  him  all  by  heart! 

There  is,  then,  nothing  to  tell  you ;  nothing  to  bring 
to  mind.  And  then,  if  I  may  borrow  the  language 
of  one  of  his  historians  and  friends,  one  of  those, 
through  whose  beautiful  pathos  the  common  sorrow 
uttered  itself  yesterday  in  Faneuil  Hall  —  "I  dare  not 
come  here,  and  dismiss,  in  a  few  summary  paragraphs, 
the  character  of  one  who  has  filled  such  a  space  in 
the  history,  who  holds  such  a  place  in  the  heart  of 
his  country.  It  would  be  a  disrespectful  familiarity, 
to  a  man  of  his  lofty  spirit,  his  great  soul,  his  rich 
endowments,  his  long  and  honorable  life,  to  endeavor 
thus  to  weigh  and  estimate  them  ;  "  —  a  half-hour  of 
words,  a  handful  of  earth,  for  fifty  years  of  great 
deeds,  on  high  places! 


PROCEEDINGS    OP   THE    CIRCUIT    COURT.  87 

But  although  the  time  does  not  require  any  thing 
elaborated  and  adequate,  —  forbids  it  rather,  —  some 
broken  sentences  of  veneration  and  love  may  be  in- 
dulged to  the  sorrow  which  oppresses  us. 

There  presents  itself,  on  the  first,  and  to  any  ob- 
servation of  Mr.  Webster's  life  and  character,  a  two- 
fold eminence ;  eminence  of  the  very  highest  rank  in 
a  two-fold  field  of  intellectual  and  public  display,  the 
profession  of  the  law,  and  the  profession  of  statesman- 
ship, of  which  it  would  not  be  easy  to  recall  any 
parallel  in  the  biography  of  illustrious  men. 

Without  seeking  for  parallels,  and  without  asserting 
that  they  do  not  exist,  consider  that  he  was  by  uni- 
versal designation  the  leader  of  the  general  American 
Bar;  and  that  he  was  also  by  an  equally  universal 
designation  foremost  of  her  statesmen  living  at  his 
death ;  inferior  to  not  one  who  has  lived  and  acted 
since  the  opening  of  his  own  public  life.  Look  at 
these  aspects  of  his  greatness  separately,  —  and  from 
opposite  sides  of  the  surpassing  elevation.  Consider 
that  his  single  career  at  the  Bar  may  seem  to  have 
been  enough  to  employ  the  largest  faculties  without 
repose,  for  a  lifetime ;  and  that  if  then  and  thus 
the  "infinitus  forensium  rerum  labor"  should  have  con- 
ducted him  to  a  mere  professional  reward  —  a  Bench 
of  Chancery  or  Law  —  the  crown  of  the  first  of  advo- 
cates — jurisperitomm  eloquentissimus  —  to  the  pure  and 
mere  honors  of  a  great  magistrate ;  that  that  would  be 
as  much  as  is  allotted  to  the  ablest  in  the  distribu- 
tion of  fame.  Even  that  half — if  I  may  say  so  —  of 
his  illustrious  reputation — how  long  the  labor  to  win 
it  —  how  worthy  of  all  that  labor  !  He  was  bred  first 


88  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

in  the  severest  school  of  the  common  law,  in  which 
its  doctrines  were  expounded  by  Smith.,  and  its  ad- 
ministration shaped  and  directed  by  Mason,  —  and  its 
foundation  principles,  its  historical  sources  and  illus- 
trations, its  connection  with  the  parallel  series  of  sta- 
tutory enactments,  its  modes  of  reasoning,  and  the 
evidence  of  its  truths,  he  grasped  easily  and  com- 
pletely ;  and  I  have  myself  heard  him  say,  that  for 
many  years  while  still  at  that  Bar,  he  tried  more 
causes  and  argued  more  questions  of  fact  to  the  jury, 
than  perhaps  any  other  member  of  the  profession  any- 
where. I  have  heard  from  others  how  even  then  he  ex- 
emplified the  same  direct,  clear,  and  forcible  exhibition 
of  proofs,  and  the  reasonings  appropriate  to  proofs  — 
as  well  as  the  same  marvellous  power  of  discerning  in- 
stantly what  we  call  the  decisive  points  of  the  cause  in 
law  and  fact  —  by  which  he  was  later  more  widely 
celebrated.  This  was  the  first  epoch  in  his  professional 
training. 

With  the  commencement  of  his  public  life,  or  with 
his  later  removal  to  this  State,  began  the  second 
epoch  of  his  professional  training  —  conducting  him 
through  the  gradation  of  the  national  tribunals  to  the 
study  and  practice  of  the  more  flexible,  elegant,  and 
scientific  jurisprudence  of  commerce  and  of  chancery 
—  and  to  the  grander  and  less  fettered  investigations 
of  international,  prize,  and  constitutional  law — and 
giving  him  to  breathe  the  air  of  a  more  famous  fo- 
rum ;  in  a  more  public  presence ;  with  more  variety 
of  competition,  although  he  never  met  abler  men,  as  I 
have  many  times  heard  him  say,  than  some  of  those 
who  initiated  him  in  the  rugged  discipline  of  the 


PROCEEDINGS    OF   THE   CIRCUIT   COURT.  89 

Courts  of  New  Hampshire;  and  thus,  at  length,  by 
these  studies  ;  these  labors  ;  this  contention  ;  continued 
without  repose,  he  came,  now  many  years  ago,  to 
stand  omnium  assensu  at  the  summit  of  the  American  Bar. 
It  is  common,  and  it  is  easy,  in  the  case  of  all  in 
such  position,  to  point  out  other  lawyers,  here  and 
there,  as  possessing  some  special  qualification  or  at- 
tainment more  remarkably,  perhaps,  because  more  ex- 
clusively;—  to  say  of  one  that  he  has  more  cases  in 
his  recollection,  at  any  given  moment ;  or  that  he  was 
earlier  grounded  in  equity ;  or  has  gathered  more 
black-letter  or  civil  law;  or  knowledge  of  Spanish  or 
Western  titles ;  and  these  comparisons  were  sometimes 
made  with  him.  But  when  you  sought  a  counsel  of 
the  first-rate  for  the  great  cause,  who  would  most 
surely  discern  and  most  powerfully  expound  the  exact 
law,  required  by  the  controversy,  in  season  for  use  — 
who  could  most  skilfully  encounter  the  opposing  law, 
under  whose  power  of  analysis,  persuasion,  and  dis- 
play, the  asserted  right  would  assume  the  most  pro- 
bable aspect  before  the  intelligence  of  the  Judge ; 
who,  if  the  inquiry,  became  blended  with,  or  resolved 
into  facts,  could  most  completely  develop  and  most 
irresistibly  expose  them;  one,  "the  law's  whole  thun- 
der born  to  wield" — when  you  sought  such  a  coun- 
sel, and  could  have  the  choice,  I  think  the  universal 
profession  would  have  turned  to  him.  And  this  would 
be  so  in  nearly  every  description  of  cause,  in  any  de- 
partment. Some  able  men  wield  civil  inquiries  with 
a  peculiar  ability,  some  criminal.  How  lucidly  and 
how  deeply  he  unfolded  a  question  of  property  you 

all  know.     But  then,  with  what  address,  feeling,  pathos, 
12 


90  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

and  prudence  lie  defended;  with  what  dignity  and 
crushing  power,  accusatorio  spiritu,  he  prosecuted  the 
accused  of  crime,  whom  he  believed  to  have  been 
guilty,  few  have  seen;  but  none  who  have  seen  can 
ever  forget  it. 

Some  scenes  there  are ;  some  Alpine  eminences 
rising  above  the  high  table-land  of  such  a  professional 
life,  to  which,  in  the  briefest  tribute,  we  should  love 
to  follow  him.  We  recall  that  day,  for  an  instance, 
when  he  first  announced,  with  decisive  display,  what 
manner  of  man  he  was  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
Nation.  It  was  in  1818,  and  it  was  in  the  argument 
of  the  case  of  Dartmouth  College.  William  Pinkney 
was  recruiting  his  great  faculties,  and  replenishing 
that  reservoir  of  professional  and  elegant  acquisition 
in  Europe.  Samuel  Dexter,  "the  honorable  man,  and 
the  counsellor,  and  the  eloquent  orator,"  was  in  his 
grave.  The  boundless  old-school  learning  of  Luther 
Martin;  the  silver  voice  and  infinite  analytical  inge- 
nuity and  resource  of  Jones;  the  fervid  genius  of 
Emmett,  pouring  itself  along  immemo  ore ;  the  ripe  and 
beautiful  culture  of  Wirt  and  Hopkinson,  the  steel 
point  unseen,  not  unfelt,  beneath  the  foliage ;  Harper, 
himself,  statesman  as  well  as  lawyer,  these  and  such 
as  these,  were  left  of  that  noble  Bar.  That  day  Mr. 
Webster  opened  the  cause  of  Dartmouth  College  to  a 
tribunal  unsurpassed  on  earth  in  all  that  gives  illus- 
tration to  a  bench  of  law,  not  one  of  whom  any  longer 
survives. 

One  would  love  to  linger  on  the  scene — when, 
after  a  masterly  argument  of  the  law,  carrying,  as 
we  may  now  know,  conviction  to  the  general  mind  of 


PROCEEDINGS    OP   THE    CIRCUIT    COURT.  91 

the  court,  and  vindicating  and  settling  for  his  lifetime 
his  place  in  that  forum,  he  paused  to  enter,  with  an 
altered  feeling,  tone,  and  manner,  with  these  words  on 
his  peroration — "I  have  conducted  my  alma  mater  to 
this  presence,  that  if  she  must  fall,  she  may  fall  in 
her  robes,  and  with  dignity,"  and  then  broke  forth  in 
that  strain  of  sublime  and  pathetic  eloquence,  of  which 
we  know  not  much  more  than  that,  in  its  progress, 
Marshall,  the  intellectual — the  self-controlled — the  un- 
emotional, announced,  visibly,  the  presence  of  the  unac- 
customed enchantment. 

Other  forensic  triumphs  crowd  on  us — in  other 
competition — with  other  issues.  But  I  must  commit 
them  to  the  historian  of  constitutional  jurisprudence. 

And  now,  if  this  transcendent  professional  reputa- 
tion were  all  of  Mr.  Webster,  it  might  be  practicable, 
though  not  easy,  to  find  its  parallel  elsewhere,  in  our 
own,  or  in  European  or  classical  biography. 

But  when  you  consider  that  side  by  side  with  this, 
there  was  growing  up  that  other  reputation — that  of 
the  first  American  statesman, — that  for  thirty- three 
years,  and  those  embracing  his  most  herculean  works 
at  the  bar,  he  was  engaged  as  a  member  of  either 
House,  or  in  the  highest  of  the  Executive  departments, 
in  the  conduct  of  the  largest  national  affairs — in  the 
treatment  of  the  largest  national  questions — in  de- 
bate with  the  highest  abilities  of  American  public 
life — conducting  diplomatic  intercourse  in  delicate  re- 
lations, with  all  manner  of  foreign  powers — invest- 
igating whole  classes  of  truths,  totally  unlike  the 
truths  of  the  law,  and  resting  on  principles  totally 
distinct, — and  that  here,  too,  he  was  wise,  safe,  con- 


92  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

trolling,  trusted,  the  foremost  man;  that  Europe  had 
come  to  see  in  his  life  a  guaranty  for  justice,  for 
peace,  for  the  best  hopes  of  civilization;  and  America 
to  feel  surer  of  her  glory  and  her  safety,  as  his  great 
arm  enfolded  her — you  see  how  rare,  how  solitary 
almost  was  the  actual  greatness !  Who  any  where  has 
won,  as  he  had,  the  double  fame,  and  worn  the  double 
wreath  of  Murray  and  Chatham,  of  Dunning  and  Fox, 
of  Erskine  and  Pitt,  of  William  Pinkney  and  Rufus 
King,  in  one  blended  and  transcendent  superiority  ? 

I  cannot  attempt  to  grasp  and  sum  up  the  aggre- 
gate of  the  service  of  his  public  life  at  such  a  mo- 
ment as  this — and  it  is  needless.  That  life  comprised 
a  term  of  more  than  thirty-three  years.  It  produced 
a  body  of  performance,  of  which  I  may  say  generally, 
it  was  all  which  the  first  abilities  of  the  country  and 
time,  employed  with  unexampled  toil,  stimulated  by 
the  noblest  patriotism ;  in  the  highest  places  of  the 
state — in  the  fear  of  God — in  the  presence  of  nations 
—  could  possibly  compass. 

He  came  into  Congress  after  the  war  of  1812  had 
begun,  and  though  probably  deeming  it  unnecessary, 
according  to  the  highest  standards  of  public  necessity, 
in  his  private  character — and  objecting,  in  his  public 
character,  to  some  of  the  details  of  the  policy  by 
which  it  was  prosecuted,  and  standing  by  party  ties 
in  general  opposition  to  the  administration — he  never 
breathed  a  sentiment  calculated  to  depress  the  tone 
of  the  public  mind ;  to  aid  or  comfort  the  enemy ;  to 
check  or  chill  the  stirrings  of  that  new,  passionate, 
unquenchable  spirit  of  nationality,  which  then  was  re- 
vealed, or  kindled  to  burn  till  we  go  down  to  the 
tombs  of  States. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF   THE   CIRCUIT    COURT.  93 

With  the  peace  of  1815  his  more  cherished  public 
labors  began;  and  thenceforward  has  he  devoted  him- 
self— the  ardor  of  his  civil  youth — the  energies  of 
his  maturest  manhood — the  autumnal  wisdom  of  the 
ripened  year — to  the  offices  of  legislation  and  diplo- 
macy; of  preserving  the  peace — keeping  the  honor — 
establishing  the  boundaries,  and  vindicating  the  neu- 
tral rights  of  his  country — restoring  a  sound  currency, 
and  laying  its  foundations  sure  and  deep — in  up- 
holding public  credit — in  promoting  foreign  commerce 
and  domestic  industry — in  developing  our  uncounted 
material  resources — giving  the  lake  and  the  river  to 
trade  —  and  vindicating  and  interpreting  the  Constitu- 
tion and  the  law.  On  all  these  subjects,  on  all  mea- 
sures practically  in  any  degree  affecting  them,  he  has 
inscribed  his  opinions  and  left  the  traces  of  his  hand. 
Everywhere  the  philosophical  and  patriot  statesman 
and  thinker  will  find  that  he  has  been  before  him, — 
lighting  the  way, — sounding  the  abyss.  His  weighty 
language,  his  sagacious  warnings,  his  great  maxims 
of  empire,  will  be  raised  to  view,  and  live  to  be  deci- 
phered when  the  final  catastrophe  shall  lift  the  granite 
foundation  in  fragments  from  its  bed. 

In  this  connection  I  cannot  but  remark  to  how  ex- 
traordinary an  extent  had  Mr.  Webster,  by  his  acts, 
words,  thoughts,  or  the  events  of  his  life,  associated 
himself  forever  in  the  memory  of  all  of  us  with  every 
historical  incident,  or  at  least  with  every  historical 
epoch;  with  every  policy,  with  every  glory,  with 
every  great  name  and  fundamental  institution,  and 
grand  or  beautiful  image,  which  are  peculiarly  and 
properly  American.  Look  backwards  to  the  planting 


94  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

of  Plymouth  and  Jamestown,  to  the  various  scenes  of 
colonial  life  in  peace  and  war;  to  the  opening,  and 
march,  and  close  of  the  revolutionary  drama;  to  the 
age  of  the  Constitution;  to  Washington,  and  Franklin, 
and  Adams,  and  Jefferson;  to  the  whole  train  of 
causes,  from  the  Reformation  downwards,  which  pre- 
pared us  to  be  republicans, — to  that  other  train  of 
causes  which  led  us  to  be  unionists.  Look  round  on 
field,  workshop,  and  deck,  and  hear  the  music  of  labor 
rewarded,  fed,  and  protected;  look  on  the  bright  sis- 
terhood of  the  States,  each  singing  as  a  seraph  in  her 
motion,  yet  blending  in  a  common  harmony,  and  there 
is  nothing  which  does  not  bring  him,  by  some  tie,  to  the 
memory  of  America.  We  seem  to  see  his  form  and 
hear  his  deep,  grave  speech  everywhere.  By  some 
felicity  of  his  personal  life ;  by  some  wise,  deep,  or 
beautiful  word,  spoken  or  written;  by  some  service 
of  his  own,  or  some  commemoration  of  the  services  of 
others,  it  has  come  to  pass  that  "our  granite  hills, 
our  inland  seas,  and  prairies,  and  fresh,  unbounded, 
magnificent  wilderness ; "  our  encircling  ocean ;  the 
rock  of  the  Pilgrims ;  our  new-born  sister  of  the 
Pacific ;  our  popular  assemblies ;  our  free  schools ;  all 
our  cherished  doctrines  of  education,  and  of  the  influ- 
ence of  religion,  and  material  policy,  and  the  law,  and 
the  Constitution,  give  us  back  his  name.  What  Ame- 
rican landscape  will  you  look  on;  what  subject  of 
American  interest  will  you  study;  what  source  of 
hope  or  of  anxiety,  as  an  American,  will  you  acknow- 
ledge, that  it  does  not  recall  him? 

I  shall  not  venture  in  this  rapid  and  general  recol- 
lection   of  Mr.  Webster,  to   attempt   to   analyze    that 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE   CIRCUIT   COURT.  95 

intellectual  power  which  all  admit  to  have  been  so 
extraordinary,  or  to  compare  or  contrast  it  with  the 
mental  greatness  of  others — in  variety  or  degree — of 
the  living  or  the  dead;  or  even  to  appreciate  exactly, 
and  in  reference  to  canons  of  art,  his  single  attribute 
of  eloquence.  Consider,  however,  the  remarkable  pheno- 
menon of  excellence  in  three  unkindred,  one  might 
have  thought,  incompatible  forms  of  public  speech — 
that  of  the  forum,  with  its  double  audience  of  bench 
and  jury,  of  the  halls  of  legislation,  and  of  the  most 
thronged  and  tumultuous  assemblies  of  the  people.  Con- 
sider, further,  that  this  multiform  eloquence,  exactly 
as  his  words  fell,  became  at  once  so  much  accession 
to  permanent  literature,  in  the  strictest  sense — solid, 
attractive,  and  rich — and  ask  how  often  in  the  his- 
tory of  public  life  such  a  thing  has  been  exemplified. 
Recall  what  pervaded  all  these  forms  of  display,  and 
every  effort  in  every  form,  that  union  of  naked  intel- 
lect in  its  largest  measure,  which  penetrates  to  the 
exact  truth  of  the  matter  in  hand  by  intuition  or  by 
inference,  and  discerns  every  thing  which  may  make 
it  intelligible,  probable,  or  credible  to  another,  with  an 
emotional  and  moral  nature  profound,  passionate,  and 
ready  to  kindle,  and  with  an  imagination  enough  to 
supply  a  hundred-fold  more  of  illustration  and  aggran- 
dizement than  his  taste  suffered  him  to  accept ;  that 
union  of  greatness  of  soul  with  depth  of  heart,  which 
made  his  speaking  almost  more  an  exhibition  of  cha- 
racter than  of  mere  genius ;  the  style  not  merely 
pure,  clear  Saxon,  but  so  constructed,  so  numerous  as 
far  as  becomes  prose,  so  forcible,  so  abounding  in  un- 
labored felicities,  the  words  so  choice,  the  epithet  so 


96  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

pictured,  the  matter  absolute  truth,  or  the  most 
exact  and  specious  resemblance  the  human  wit  can 
devise,  the  treatment  of  the  subject,  if  you  have  re- 
gard to  the  kind  of  truth  he  had  to  handle,  political, 
ethical,  legal,  as  deep,  as  complete  as  Paley's,  or 
Locke's,  or  Butler's,  or  Alexander  Hamilton's,  of  their 
subjects;  yet  that  depth  and  that  completeness  of 
sense,  made  transparent  as  through  crystal  waters, 
all  embodied  in  harmonious  or  well-composed  periods, 
raised  on  winged  language,  vivified,  fused,  and  poured 
along  in  a  tide  of  emotion,  fervid  and  incapable  to 
be  withstood — recall  the  form,  the  eye,  the  brow,  the 
tone  of  voice,  the  presence  of  the  intellectual  king 
of  men — recall  him  thus,  and  in  the  language  of  Mr. 
Justice  Story,  commemorating  Samuel  Dexter,  we  may 
well  "rejoice  that  we  have  lived  in  the  same  age, 
that  we  have  listened  to  his  eloquence,  and  been  in- 
structed by  his  wisdom." 

I  cannot  leave  the  subject  of  his  eloquence  without 
returning  to  a  thought  I  have  advanced  already.  All 
that  he  has  left — or  the  larger  portion  of  all — is 
the  record  of  spoken  words.  His  works,  as  already 
collected,  extend  to  many  volumes  —  a  library  of  rea- 
son and  eloquence,  as  Gibbon  has  said  of  Cicero's  — 
but  they  are  volumes  of  speeches  only,  or  mainly ; 
and  yet  who  does  not  rank  him  as  a  great  American 
author  —  an  author  as  truly  expounding,  and  as  cha- 
racteristically exemplifying  in  a  pure,  genuine,  and 
harmonious  English  style,  the  mind,  thought,  point  of 
view  of  objects,  and  essential  nationality  of  his  coun- 
try, as  any  other  of  our  authors,  professionally  so 
denominated  ?  Against  the  maxim  of  Mr.  Fox,  his 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE    CIRCUIT    COURT.  97 

speeches  read  well,  and  yet  were  good  speeches — 
great  speeches  in  the  delivery.  For  so  grave  were 
they;  so  thoughtful  and  true;  so  much  the  eloquence 
of  reason  at  last;  so  strikingly  always  they  contrived 
to  link  the  immediate  topic  with  other  and  broader 
principles,  ascending  easily  to  widest  generalizations ; 
so  happy  was  the  reconciliation  of  the  qualities  which 
engage  the  attention  of  hearers,  yet  reward  the  peru- 
sal of  students,  so  critically  did  they  keep  the  right 
side  of  the  line  which  parts  eloquence  from  rhetoric,  and 
so  far  do  they  rise  above  the  penury  of  mere  debate, 
that  the  general  reason  of  the  country  has  enshrined 
them  at  once,  and  forever,  among  our  classics. 

It  is  a  common  belief  that  Mr.  Webster  was  a  vari- 
ous reader;  and  I  think  it  is  true,  even  to  a  greater 
degree  than  has  been  believed.  In  his  profession  of 
politics,  nothing  I  think,  worthy  of  attention,  had  es- 
<;tj>ed  him,  nothing  of  the  "ancient  or  modern  pru- 
dence," nothing  which  Greek  or  Roman,  or  European 
speculation  in  that  walk  had  explored,  or  Greek  or 
Koi nan,  or  European  or  universal  history,  or  public 
biography  exemplified.  I  shall  not  soon  forget  with 
what  admiration  he  spake,  at  an  interview  to  which 
he  admitted  me  while  in  the  Law  School  at  Cam- 
bridge, of  the  politics  and  ethics  of  Aristotle,  and  of 
the  mighty  mind  which,  as  he  said,  seemed  to  have 
"  thought  through "  so  many  of  the  great  problems 
which  form  the  discipline  of  social  man.  American 
history,  and  American  political  literature  he  had  by 
heart,  —  the  long  series  of  influences  which  trained  us 
for  representative  and  free  government;  that  other 
series  of  influences,  which  moulded  us  into  a  united 

13 


98  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

government;  the  Colonial  era;  the  age  of  controversy 
before  the  Revolution ;  every  scene,  and  every  person 
in  that  great  tragic  action;  every  question  which  has 
successively  engaged  our  politics,  and  every  name 
which  has  figured  in  them,  —  the  whole  stream  of  our 
time  was  open,  clear,  and  present  ever  to  his  eye. 

Beyond  his  profession  of  politics,  so  to  call  it,  he 
had  been  a  diligent  and  choice  reader,  as  his  extraor- 
dinary style  in  part  reveals,  and  I  think  the  love  of 
reading  would  have  gone  with  him  to  a  later  and 
riper  age,  if  to  such  an  age  it  had  been  the  will  of 
God  to  reserve  him.  This  is  no  place  or  time  to  ap- 
preciate this  branch  of  his  acquisitions ;  but  there  is 
an  interest  inexpressible  in  knowing  who  were  any  of 
the  chosen  from  among  the  great  dead  in  the  library 
of  such  a  man.  Others  may  correct  me,  but  I  should 
say  of  that  interior  and  narrower  circle,  were  Cicero, 
Virgil,  Shakspeare — whom  he  knew  familiarly  as  the 
Constitution  —  Bacon,  Milton,  Burke,  Johnson  —  to 
whom,  I  hope  it  is  not  pedantic  nor  fanciful  to  say,  I 
often  thought  his  nature  presented  some  resemblance ; 
the  same  "  abundance  of  the  general  propositions  re- 
quired for  explaining  a  difficulty  and  refuting  a 
sophism,  copiously  and  promptly  occurring  to  him ; " 
the  same  kindness  of  heart,  and  wealth  of  sensi- 
bility; under  a  manner,  of  course,  more  courteous  and 
gracious,  yet  more  sovereign ;  the  same  sufficient,  yet 
not  predominant  imagination,  stooping  ever  to  truth, 
and  giving  affluence,  vivacity,  and  attraction,  to  a 
powerful,  correct,  and  weighty  style  of  prose. 

I  cannot  leave  this  life  and  character,  without  se- 
lecting and  dwelling  a  moment  on  one  or  two  of  his 


PROCEEDINGS    OF   TTIE   CIRCUIT    COURT.  99 

traits,  or  virtues,  or  felicities,  a  little  longer.  There 
is  a  collective  impression  made  by  the  whole  of  an 
eminent  person's  life,  beyond  and  other  than,  and  apart 
from  that  which  the  mere  general  biographer  would 
afford  the  means  of  explaining.  There  is  an  influence 
of  a  great  man  derived  from  tilings  indescribable  al- 
most, or  incapable  of  enumeration,  or  singly  insufficient 
to  account  for  it;  but  through  which  his  spirit  trans- 
pires, and  his  individuality  goes  forth  on  the  contem- 
porary generation.  And  thus,  I  should  say,  one  grand 
tendency  of  his  life  and  character  was  to  elevate  the 
whole  tone  of  the  public  mind.  He  did  this,  indeed, 
not  merely  by  example.  He  did  it  by  dealing  as  he 
thought,  truly,  and  in  manly  fashion,  with  that  public 
mind.  He  evinced  his  love  of  the  people,  not  so  much 
by  honeyed  phrases,  as  by  good  counsels  and  useful 
service,  vera  pro  gratis.  He  showed  how  he  appre- 
ciated them,  by  submitting  sound  arguments  to  their 
understandings,  and  right  motives  to  their  free  will. 
He  came  before  them  less  with  flattery  than  with  in- 
struction; less  with  a  vocabulary  larded  with  the 
words,  humanity,  and  philanthrophy,  and  progress,  and 
brotherhood,  than  with  a  scheme  of  politics,  an  educa- 
tional, social,  and  governmental  system,  which  would 
have  made  them  prosperous,  happy,  and  great. 

What  the  greatest  of  the  Greek  historians  said  of 
Pericles,  we  all  feel  might  be  said  of  him,  "  He  did  not 
so  much  follow  as  lead  the  people,  because  he  framed 
not  his  words  to  please  them,  like  one  who  is  gaining 
power  by  unworthy  means,  but  was  able  and  dared  the 
on  strength  of  his  high  character,  even  to  brave  their 
anger  by  contradicting  their  will." 


100  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

I  should  indicate  it  as  another  influence  of  his  life, 
acts,  and  opinions,  that  it  was  in  an  extraordinary 
degree  uniformly  and  liberally  conservative.  He  saw 
with  vision  as  of  a  prophet,  that  if  our  system  of 
united  government  can  be  maintained  till  a  nation- 
ality shall  be  generated  of  due  intensity  and  due 
comprehension,  a  glory  indeed  millennial,  a  progress 
without  end,  a  triumph  of  humanity  hitherto  unseen, 
were  ours ;  and  therefore  he  addressed  himself  to 
maintain  that  united  government. 

Standing  on  the  rock  of  Plymouth,  he  bade  distant 
generations  hail,  and  saw  them  rising,  "  demanding 
life,  impatient  for  the  skies,"  from  what  were  "  fresh, 
unbounded,  magnificent  Avildernesses,"  —  from  the  shore 
of  the  great  tranquil  sea,  —  not  yet  become  ours. 
But  observe  to  what  he  welcomes  them,  by  what  he 
would  bless  them.  "  It  is  to  good  government ; "  it 
is  to  "  treasures  of  science,  and  delights  of  learning ; " 
it  is  to  the  "  sweets  of  domestic  life,  the  immeasu- 
rable good  of  rational  existence,  the  immortal  hopes  of 
Christianity,  the  light  of  everlasting  truth." 

It  will  be  happy,  if  the  wisdom  and  temper  of  his 
administration  of  our  foreign  affairs  shall  preside  in 
the  ipme  which  is  at  hand.  Sobered,  instructed  by 
the  examples  and  warnings  of  all  the  past,  he  yet 
gathered  from'  the  study  and  comparison  of  all  the 
eras,  that  there  is  a  silent  progress  of  the  race,  with- 
out pause,  without  haste,  without  return,  to  which  the 
counselling^  of  history  are  to  be  accommodated  by  a 
wise  philosophy.  More  than,  or  as  much  as  that  of 
any  of  our  public  characters,  his  statesmanship  was 
one  which  recognized  a  Europe,  an  old  world,  but  yet 


PROCEEDINGS    OF   THE   CIRCUIT    COURT.  101 

grasped  the  capital  idea  of  the  American  position, 
and  deduced  from  it  the  whole  fashion  and  color  of 
its  policy;  which  discerned  that  we  are  to  play  a 
high  part  in  human  affairs,  but  discerned  also  what 
part  it  is,  peculiar,  distant,  distinct,  and  grand  as  our 
hemisphere ;  an  influence,  not  a  contact,  —  the  stage, 
the  drama,  the  catastrophe,  all  but  the  audience  all 
our  own;  and  if  ever  he  felt  himself  at  a  loss,  he 
consulted  reverently  the  genius  of  Washington. 

In  bringing  these  memories  to  a  conclusion,  for  I 
omit  many  things  because  I  dare  not  trust  myself  to 
speak  of  them,  I  shall  not  be  misunderstood,  or  give 
offence,  if  I  hope  that  one  other  trait  in  his  public 
character,  one  doctrine,  rather,  of  his  political  creed, 
may  be  remembered  and  be  appreciated.  It  is  one 
of  the  two  fundamental  precepts  in  which  Plato,  as 
expounded  by  the  great  master  of  Latin  eloquence 
and  reason  and  morals,  comprehends  the  duty  of  those 
who  share  in  the  conduct  of  the  state,  — "  Ut,  quce- 
cunque  agunt,  TOTUM  corpus  reipublicce  curent ;  nedum 
partem  aliquam  tuentur,  reliquas  desemiii"  that  they  com- 
prise in  their  care  the  whole  body  of  the  republic, 
nor  keep  one  part  and  desert  another.  He  gives  the 
reason,  one  reason,  of  the  precept,  — "  Qui  autem  parti 
ctrium  coimilunt,  partem  negligunt,  rem  perniciosissimam  in 
cirttdleiti  inducunt,  seditionem  atque  discordiam"  The 
patriotism  which  embraces  less  than  the  whole,  in- 
duces sedition  and  discord,  the  last  evil  of  the  state. 

How  profoundly  he  had  comprehended  this  truth ; 
with  what  persistency,  Avith  what  passion,  from  the 
first  hour  he  became  a  public  man,  to  the  last  beat 
of  the  great  heart,  he  cherished  it ;  how  little  he  ac- 


102  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

counted  the  good,  the  praise,  the  blame,  of  this  locality 
or  that^  in  comparison  of  the  larger  good,  and  the 
general  and  thoughtful  approval  of  his  own  and  our 
whole  America,  she  this  day  feels  and  announces. 
Wheresoever  a  drop  of  her  blood  flows  in  the  veins 
of  man,  this  trait  is  felt  and  appreciated.  The  hunter 
beyond  Superior,  the  fisherman  on  the  deck  of  the 
nigh  night-foundered  skiff,  the  sailor  on  the  uttermost 
sea,  will  feel,  as  he  hears  these  tidings,  that  the  pro- 
tection of  a  sleepless,  all-embracing  parental  care,  is 
withdrawn  from  him  for  a  space,  and  that  his  path- 
way henceforward  is  more  solitary  and  less  safe  than 
before. 

But  I  cannot  pursue  these  thoughts.  Among  the 
eulogists  who  have  just  uttered  the  eloquent  sorrow 
of  England  at  the  death  of  the  great  Duke,  one  has 
employed  an  image,  and  an  idea,  which  I  venture  to 
modify  and  appropriate. 

"The  Northmen's  image  of  death  is  finer  than  that 
of  other  climes ;  no  skeleton,  but  a  gigantic  figure 
that  envelops  men  within  the  massive  folds  of  its  dark 
garment.  Webster  seems  so  enshrouded  from  us,  as 
the  last  of  the  mighty  Three,  themselves  following  a 
mighty  series ;  the  greatest  closing  the  procession. 
The  robe  draws  round  him,  and  the  era  is  past." 

Yet  how  much  there  is  which  that  all-ample  fold 
shall  not  hide  ; — the  recorded  wisdom ;  the  great  ex- 
ample ;  the  assured  immortality. 

They  speak  of  monuments! 

Nothing  can  cover  his  high  fame  but  heaven, 
No   pyramids   set-off  his   memories 
But  the   eternal  substance  of  his  greatness ; 
To   which   I   leave   him. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF   THE    CIRCUIT    COURT.  103 

GEORGE  T.  CURTIS,  Esq.,  followed  Mr.  Choate : 

May  it  please  your  Honors — In  the  general  sorrow 
which  pervades  all  hearts,  perhaps  the  consoling  re- 
flections which  I  am  able  to  bring  from  the  last 
earthly  presence  of  the  great  departed  will  find  ap- 
propriate expression  here. 

We  have  all  witnessed  his  life.  We  have  known 
him  in  the  Senate,  in  the  forum,  in  the  popular 
assembly,  in  the  social  circle;  in  all  the  works  and 
the  duties  of  the  manifold  relations  which  he  filled 
with  his  own  peculiar  greatness. 

It  was  my  privilege,  also,  to  have  witnessed  his 
death,  so  grand,  so  tranquil,  that  we  who  stood  and 
watched  the  moments  that  were  slowly  bearing  away 
from  us  his  great  spirit,  could  scarcely  feel  the  weight 
of  the  affliction  which  was  descending  upon  our  souls, 
and  when  in  the  silence  of  that  chamber,  which  the 
breath  of  an  infant  would  have  broken,  the  dread  an- 
nouncement came  at  last,  we  seemed  to  have  watched, 
and  served,  and  prayed,  not  at  a  dissolution  of  this 
"mortal  coil,"  but  at  a  translation  of  some  great  ser- 
vant of  God  into  the  realms  of  bliss. 

It  is  known  to  all  that  the  death  of  Mr.  Webster 
was,  in  all  respects,  worthy  of  his  life.  It  was  more. 
It  was  the  consummation  of  his  character,  the  crown- 
ing glory  of  his  whole  mortal  existence.  It  was  his 
singular  happiness  to  have  been  able  to  approach  the 
dark  portals  of  the  tomb  with  a  perfectly  distinct  and 
clear  perception,  that  they  had  been  opened  to  receive 
him;  and  yet  with  his  mind  under  its  own  entire 
control,  as  completely  as  it  had  ever  been,  since  it 
came  from  his  Maker's  hands. 


104  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

The  manner  in  which  he  kept  himself  in  a  per- 
fectly elevated,  noble,  and  religious  state  of  mind, 
and  yet  never  lost  sight  of  the  smallest  duties,  or 
failed  in  the  expression  of  a  kind  thought  to  those 
about  him,  seemed  to  me  to  mark  the  greatness  of 
his  nature,  more  than  all  the  other  proofs  of  intel- 
lectual supremacy  which  his  life  has  exhibited.  His 
vast  intellect  never  changed  its  relations  to  any  sub- 
ject, any  thing,  or  any  person;  never  lost  the  sense 
of  what  was  due  to  his  own  character  and  his  own 
position  among  men ;  never  withdrew  itself  from  a 
single  occupation ;  never  exchanged  the  activity  of 
life  for  the  imbecilities  of  disease ;  never  yielded  to 
complaint ;  never  surrendered  itself  to  aught  but  the 
final  grasp  of  death,  which  shut  it  from  earthly  mani- 
festation. 

In  all  this  extraordinary  exhibition  of  the  power 
and  balance  of  his  mind,  there  was  nothing  of  Roman 
stoicism.  A  more  than  Roman  dignity  enveloped  him 
to  the  end.  His  warm  affections  remained  unchanged, 
overflowing  to  all  around  him ;  and  he  could  not  so 
have  died  if  he  had  not  been  sustained  by  a  religious 
faith,  such  a  mind  like  his  must  possess  if  it  lives  at 
all.  There  was  nothing  in  his  faith  of  a  technical 
character.  No  expression  escaped  him  which  would 
mark  him  as  of  this  or  that  theology,  or  of  any 
church,  save  the  universal  church  of  Christ.  "  What," 
said  he,  to  those  who  gathered  about  him,  "  what 
would  be  the  condition  of  any  of  us  without  the  hope 
of  immortality  ?" 

What  is  there  to  rest  that  hope  upon  but  the  Gos- 
pel ?  And  it  was  while  resting  his  hope  upon  that 


PROCEEDINGS   OP   THE   CIRCUIT   COURT.  105 

foundation  that  he  could  look  back  over  his  long  life 
and  say, — "  My  general  wish  on  earth  has  been  to  do 
my  Maker's  will.  I  thank  him.  I  thank  him  for  the 
means  of  doing  some  little  good  for  these  beloved  ob- 
jects, for  the  blessings  that  surround  me,  for  my 
nature  and  associations.  I  thank  him  that  I  am  to 
die  under  so  many  circumstances  of  love  and  affec- 
tion." It  was  his  good  fortune,  also, — in  which,  con- 
sidering how  far  from  that  spot  his  public  duties 
considerably  drew  him,  we  may  see  almost  a  special 
Providence, — that  he  died  in  the  home  of  his  aifec- 
tions,  and  away  from  all  the  scenes  and  exactions  of 
political  strife. 

There  his  last  days,  and  even  hours,  were  given 
peacefully  to  the  great  concerns  of  his  country,  from 
which  his  attention  was  never  withdrawn,  until  the 
messenger  from  another  world  was  actually  at  the 
door.  There  he  found  solace  to  his  declining  strength, 
amid  the  scenes  of  nature  which  he  so  passionately 
loved,  and  in  which  he  had  been  so  long  accustomed 
to  renew  his  power. 

There  were  the  graves  of  the  loved  and  lost  who 
had  gone  before  him;  there  was  the  beautiful  home, 
which  his  fame  has  made  historical,  and  which  he 
fondly  trusted  would  remain  to  his  blood  and  name 
through  the  generations  that  still  gather  around  its 
hearth.  There  his  great  heart  could  expand  itself 
to  the  love  of  those  nearest  and  dearest  to  him  on 
earth,  and  there  he  could  receive  as  he  did  receive 
from  those  not  present  as  well  as  from  those  who 
were  about  him,  a  ministry  of  veneration  and  love 
which  will  be  to  them  a  precious  recollection  forever. 

14 


106  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

Mr.  Justice  SPRAGUE  replied: 

The  event  we  deplore  is  solemn,  is  appalling,  not 
only  as  a  calamity  and  for  the  void  which  it  creates, 
but  still  more  as  bringing  with  it  an  overwhelming 
sense  of  the  nothingness  of  human  power.  Others 
may  have  excelled  Mr.  Webster  in  some  intellectual 
endowment,  but  in  the  combination  of  the  statesman, 
the  orator,  the  diplomatist,  the  jurist,  and  the  advo- 
cate, the  present  age  has  produced  no  equal,  and  no 
age  a  superior. 

It  was  my  lot  to  be  associated  with  him  in ;  both 
branches  of  the  National  Legislature,  and  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  same  political  party,  of  the  same  profes- 
sion, and  from  the  same  section  of  the  country.  It  is 
now  nearly  twenty-seven  years  since  I  entered  the 
House  of  Representatives,  of  which  he  was  then  a 
member.  The  preeminence  asserted  for  him  by  his 
friends,  was  not  then  conceded  by  his  opponents.  But 
it  was  soon  observable  that  whenever  a  debate  arose 
in  which  Mr.  Webster  took  an  earnest  part,  even  those 
who  were  most  strenuous  in  denying  his  general  supe- 
riority, were  constrained  to  admit  that  upon  that  occa- 
sion he  had  excelled  all  others.  These  occasions  at 
length  became  so  multiplied,  with  so  many  opponents, 
and  upon  such  a  variety  of  topics,  that  in  spite  of 
sectional  jealousy,  of  party  prejudice  and  intolerance, 
and  of  personal  partialities  and  local  pride,  the  admis- 
sion of  his  superiority  was  forced  upon  unwilling 
minds,  and  from  reluctant  lips,  and  he  stood  confessed 
by  all  unequalled  in  intellectual  power.  In  the  most 
violent  times,  under  the  most  exasperating  attacks, 
personal  and  political,  he  never  transcended  the  limits 


PROCEEDINGS    OF   THE   CIRCUIT    COURT.  107 

of  good  taste  or  parliamentary  decorum — never  vio- 
lated the  courtesy  and  dignity  of  senatorial  debate. 

Should  any  be  disposed  to  say  of  him  as  was  said 
of  Burke — 

Born  for  the    universe,  he  narrowed  his  mind, 
And  to  party  gave  up  what  was  meant  for  mankind, 

it  should  be  answered  also,  that  what  he  gave  to 
party  he  gave  to  mankind ;  for  he  established  prin- 
ciples and  elucidated  truths  of  universal  application 
and  eternal  duration. 

No  man  can  read  his  speeches  without  clearer  views 
upon  great  political  problems,  without  a  more  pro- 
found comprehension  of  the  true  foundation  upon 
which  civil  society  should  be  erected,  and  the  just 
rules  by  which  its  affairs  should  be  conducted. 

No  candid  mind  can  rise  from  the  perusal  of  his 
works  without  a  more  just  and  elevated  appreciation 
of  our  own  Constitution  and  Government,  a  warmer 
and  more  exalted  patriotism,  without  being  a  truer 
and  firmer  friend  of  real  republicanism,  of  justice,  of 
law,  of  order,  of  universal  regulated  liberty. 

The  present  occasion  does  not  permit  me  to  verify 
these  general  remarks  by  specific  and  detailed  refer- 
ences, nor  has  the  time  arrived  when  his  later  efforts 
can  be  dispassionately  considered. 

But  there  is  one  speech  made,  so  long  since  as  to 
be  now  matter  of  history,  and  involving  no  topic  of 
personal  excitement,  of  which  I  have  been  especially 
requested  to  speak,  because  it  is  the  most  celebrated, 
and  of  the  then  Senators  from  New  England,  I  am, 
with  one  exception,  the  only  survivor ;  and  it  is  pro- 


108  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

per  to  speak  of  it  here  and  now,  because  a  great 
vital  question  of  constitutional  law  was  by  that  speech 
settled  as  completely  and  irrevocably  as  it  could  have 
been  by  the  greatest  minds  in  the  highest  judicial 
tribunals. 

Mr.  Foot's  resolutions  involved  merely  the  question 
of  limiting  or  extending  the  survey  of  the  public 
lands.  Upon  this,  Mr.  Benton  and  Mr.  Hayne  ad- 
dressed the  Senate,  condemning  the  policy  of  the 
Eastern  States,  as  illiberal  towards  the  West.  Mr.  Web- 
ster replied,  in  vindication  of  New  England  and  the 
policy  of  the  Government.  It  was  then  that  General 
Hayne  made  the  assault  which  that  speech  repelled. 

It  has  been  asked  if  it  be  possible  that  that  reply 
was  made  without  previous  preparation.  There  could 
have  been  no  special  preparation  before  the  speech 
began  to  which  it  was  an  answer.  When  General 
Hayne  closed,  Mr.  Webster  followed,  with  the  interval 
only  of  the  usual  adjournment  of  one  night, 

His  reply  was  made  to  repel  an  attack,  sudden, 
unexpected,  and  almost  unexampled,  an  attack  upon 
Mr.  Webster  personally,  upon  Massachusetts  and  New 
England,  and  upon  the  Constitution. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  this  attack  was  the 
result  of  premeditation,  concert,  and  arrangement.  His 
assailant  selected  his  own  time,  and  that  too,  pecu- 
liarly inconvenient  to  Mr.  Webster,  for  at  that  mo- 
ment the  Supreme  Court  were  proceeding  in  the 
hearing  of  a  cause  of  great  importance,  in  which  he 
was  leading  counsel.  For  this  reason,  he  requested, 
through  a  friend,  a  postponement  of  the  debate.  Gene- 
ral Hayne  objected,  and  the  request  was  refused.  The 


PROCEEDINGS    OF   THE    CIRCUIT    COURT.  109 

assailant,  too,  selected  his  own  ground,  and  made  his 
choice  of  topics,  without  reference  to  the  resolution 
before  the  Senate,  or  the  legitimate  subject  of  debate. 
The  time,  the  matter,  and  the  manner,  indicate  that 
the  attack  was  made  with  a  design  to  crush  a  formi- 
dable political  opponent.  To  this  end,  personal  history, 
the  annals  of  New  England  and  of  the  federal  party 
Avere  ransacked  for  materials.  It  was  attempted  to 
make  him  responsible,  not  only  for  what  was  his  own, 
but  for  the  opinions  and  conduct  of  others.  All  the 
errors  and  delinquencies,  real  or  supposed,  of  Massa- 
chusetts and  the  Eastern  States,  and  of  the  federal 
party,  during  the  Avar  of  1812,  and  throughout  their 
history,  AATere  to  be  accumulated  on  him.  It  Avas  sup- 
posed, that,  as  a  representative,  he  would  be  driven 
to  attempt  to  defend  what  was  indefensible,  and  to  up- 
hold Avhat  could  not  be  sustained,  and  as  a  federalist, 
to  oppose  the  popular  resolutions  of  '98. 

Gen.  Ilayne  heralded  his  speech  with  a  declaration 
of  Avar,  Avith  taunts  and  threats,  vaunting  anticipated 
triumph,  as  if  to  paralyze  by  intimidation ;  saying  that 
he  had  something  rankling  in  his  breast,  and  that  he 
Avould  carry  the  war  into  Africa,  until  he  had  obtain- 
ed indemnity  for  the  past,  and  security  for  the  future. 

Mr.  Webster  evidently  felt  the  magnitude  of  the 
occasion,  and  a  consciousness  that  he  was  more  than 
equal  to  it.  On  no  other  occasion,  although  I  have 
heard  him  hundreds  of  times,  have  I  seen  him  so 
thoroughly  aroused.  Yet  when  he  commenced,  and 
throughout  the  whole,  he  was  perfectly  self-possessed 
and  self-controlled.  Never  was  his  bearing  more  lofty, 
his  person  more  majestic,  his  manner  more  appropriate 
and  impressive. 


110  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

At  first  a  few  of  his  opponents  made  some  show  of 
indifference.  But  the  power  of  the  orator  soon  swept 
away  all  affectation,  and  a  solemn,  deep,  absorbing  in- 
terest was  manifested  by  all,  and  continued  even 
through  his  profound  discussion  of  Constitutional  law. 

When  he  closed,  the  impression  upon  all  was  too 
deep  for  utterance,  and,  to  this  day,  no  one  who  was 
present  has  spoken  of  that  speech  but  as  a  matchless 
achievement  and  a  complete  triumph.  When  he  sat 
down,  General  Hayne  arose,  and  endeavored  to  restate 
and  reenforce  his  argument.  This  instantly  called 
forth  from  Mr.  Webster  that  final,  condensed  reply 
which  has  the  force  of  a  moral  demonstration. 

The  value  of  that  speech  cannot  be  measured,  with- 
out a  just  appreciation  of  our  Constitution,  and  of  re- 
publican government.  Nullification  had  become  formi- 
dable. It  had  been  practically  adopted  in  high  places, 
and  was  sustained  by  several  States,  and  some  of  the 
ablest  minds  of  the  South,  and  was  daily  gaining 
strength,  as  the  offspring  of  the  resolutions  of  '98.  By 
this  single  effort  that  deadly  heresy  was  prostrated 
and  crushed  forever. 

No  speech,  ancient  or  modern,  has  within  the  same 
time  convinced  so  many  minds,  and  produced  so  great 
and  salutary  results.  It  was  not  addressed  merely  to 
the  enlightened  and  reflecting  audience  around  him, 
but  to  this  great  reading  nation,  and  to  the  civilized 
world.  If  the  doctrines  of  General  Hayne  had  pre- 
vailed, this  Union  would  have  been  shattered  into 
fragments ;  but  Mr.  Webster  and  his  doctrines  have 
triumphed,  and  our  Union  remains,  in  all  its  magni- 
ficence and  beneficence. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE    CIRCUIT    COURT.  Ill 

When  Mr.  Webster  first  entered  the  State  Depart- 
ment, our  foreign  affairs,  particularly  with  Great  Bri- 
tain, were  complicated  and  critical  in  the  extreme. 
Adverse  military  forces  had  been  gathered  upon  our 
north-eastern  boundary.  In  relation  to  the  affair  of 
the  Caroline,  an  unsound  doctrine  of  international  law 
had  been  put  forth  011  our  part,  which,  if  it  had  been 
carried  out  by  the  threatened  punishment  of  the  sol- 
dier McLeod,  would  immediately  have  brought  a  hostile 
fleet  upon  our  coast.  The  matter  of  the  Creole,  too, 
was  a  further  disturbing  cause.  Mr.  Webster  extri- 
cated the  Government  from  the  false  position  in  which 
it  had  been  placed  by  his  predecessor,  by  frankly 
conceding  what  we  could  not  justly  maintain,  and 
planting  himself  only  upon  the  right. 

His  state  papers,  during  the  administration  of  Har- 
rison and  Tyler,  are  unsurpassed  in  power,  truth,  and 
propriety.  His  diplomacy  was  consummate.  It  attain- 
ed complete  success,  and  entitled  him  to  the  gratitude 
of  his  country  and  the  world.  If  his  principles  and 
practice  should  be  followed  by  all  nations,  war  would 
cease,  and  the  reign  of  peace  be  universal. 

Men  distinguished  in  political  life  have  often  at- 
tempted in  vain  to  command  success  at  the  bar,  while 
great  lawyers  have  signally  failed  in  a  parliamentary 
career.  Distinct  powers  are  required  for  each.  For 
the  one,  the  power  of  resolving  a  question  into  its 
elements;  and  for  the  other,  the  power  of  combina- 
tion, of  dealing  with  masses,  and  of  holding  great  sub- 
jects in  a  comprehensive  grasp.  Mr.  Webster  pos- 
sessed both,  preeminently. 


112  WEBSTER    MEMORIAL. 

As  a  lawyer,  he  for  nearly  thirty  years  stood  at 
the  head  of  the  Bar  of  the  United  States,  without  a 
rival ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  he  maintained  his  pre- 
eminence as  a  statesman  and  an  orator,  in  the  halls 
of  Congress,  or  at  the  head  of  a  Cabinet.  In  consultr 
ation,  no  man  was  more  weighty ;  in  trials  at  the  bar, 
no  man  was  his  equal.  He  possessed  every  requisite 
for  success  in  the  highest  degree.  Eloquent,  saga- 
cious, fearless,  circumspect,  ready,  learned,  and  pro- 
found. No  other  lawyer  has  so  ably  expounded  the 
Constitution,  and  no  one  has  done  so  much  to  main- 
tain it  upon  its  true  foundation,  and  in  its  just  pro- 
portions. Superior  as  he  must  have  felt  himself  to 
be,  to  those  whom  he  generally  addressed,  that  supe- 
riority was  never  asserted  in  his  manner  towards  the 
bench,  which  was  uniformly  respectful  and  deferential. 
He  wished  the  law  to  be  revered,  and  he  knew  that 
reverence  for  it  could  not  be  maintained  without  re- 
spect for  the  tribunals  by  which  it  is  administered. 
Faithful  to  his  clients,  he  was  also  true  to  the  court, 
and  never,  for  temporary  success,  exerted  his  great 
powers  to  subvert  fundamental  principles,  or  confound 
the  rules  of  right.  He  never  used  his  gigantic 
strength  to  remove  the  landmarks  of  the  law.  He 
dealt  with  facts  as  an  advocate,  but  with  the  law  as 
a  jurist.  It  was  with  him  a  science,  upon  which  de- 
pended public  and  private  right,  social  order,  the 
peace,  the  existence  of  civilized  society.  I  leave  to 
the  learned  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  who  has 
been  so  recently  and  intimately  associated  with  him 
at  the  bar,  to  present  a  more  complete  delineation  of 
his  forensic  character. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE     CIRCUIT    COURT.  113 

Extraordinary  as  were  the  natural  gifts  of  the  great 
departed,  he  did  not  trust  to  them  alone.  He  was 
laborious,  but  not  with  incessant  toil.  He  gave  him- 
self frequent  intervals  of  relaxation  and  repose ;  but 
when  his  mind  was  brought  into  earnest  exercise,  it 
worked  with  an  intensity  and  effect  that  could  not 
be  exceeded.  One  part  of  his  intellectual  training 
particularly  recommends  itself  to  the  young  men  of 
his  own  profession.  When  any  question  was  presented 
to  his  mind,  he  was  not  content  to  examine  it  only 
to  see  what  could  be  said  on  his  own  side,  or  to 
maintain  a  thesis,  but  he  investigated  the  subject  on 
all  sides,  sounded  its  depths,  explored  its  foundations, 
and  having  found  the  truth,  laid  it  up  as  a  treasure 
to  be  kept  forever.  It  was  thus  that  he  amassed 
amazing  intellectual  wealth,  upon  which  he  could 
draw  at  any  time  as  an  exhaustless  mine.  He  had  a 
profound  respect  and  reverence  for  the  Christian  reli- 
gion and  its  ordinances.  Whenever  he  spoke  of  them 
it  was  in  deep  tones  of  solemnity  and  awe.  No  one 
who  knew  him  would  presume  to  speak  of  them 
lightly  or  thoughtlessly  in  his  presence. 

I  had  hoped  that  when  the  time  should  have  arriv- 
ed for  his  withdrawal  from  the  active  scenes  of  poli- 
tical life,  he  would,  in  his  rural  retreat,  have  devoted 
his  last  years  to  the  investigation  and  contemplation 
of  the  momentous  subject  of  revelation  and  a  future 
life,  and  that  he  would  have  given  to  the  world  the 
fruits  of  the  inquiries  and  reflections  of  his  great 
mind.  Such  a  work  would  have  been  of  transcendent 
value,  and  a  graceful  close,  and  the  crowning  glory 
of  the  labors  of  his  life.  But  Infinite  Wisdom  and 

15 


114  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

Infinite  Goodness  have  ordered  it  otherwise,  and  we 
have  only  to  bow  in  humble  submission  to  the  dis- 
pensation. 

Mr.  Justice  CURTIS  said: 

I  receive  with  deep  sensibility  the  resolutions  of 
the  Bar,  and  the  remarks  of  yourself,  Mr.  Attorney, 
and  of  the  other  gentlemen  who  have  addressed  us. 
The  death  of  this  illustrious  statesman  and  jurist  has 
produced  a  profound  impression  everywhere  in  the 
country  to  whose  service  he  devoted  his  life,  and  will 
be  felt  as  an  event  not  unimportant  in  the  civilized 
world. 

Among  the  gentlemen  of  this  Bar,  of  which  he  was 
a  member,  with  very  many  of  whom  he  held  relations 
of  private  friendship,  and  for  whom,  as  a  body,  he 
was  ever  ready  to  manifest  a  fraternal  regard,  and  in 
this  Court,  which,  for  more  than  thirty  years,  he  has 
enlightened  and  assisted  by  his  labors,  a  deep  feeling 
of  private  grief  mingles  itself  with  our  sense  of  the 
public  loss.  How  great  this  loss  is  cannot  be  de- 
scribed, for  it  cannot  now  be  even  known.  The  dark- 
ness of  the  future  covers  the  dangers  which  the  Pro- 
vidence of  God  may  permit  our  country  to  encounter, 
and  hides  from  view  our  needs  for  the  patriotism  and 
surpassing  mental  power  of  Mr.  Webster.  In  a  go- 
vernment depending  for  its  existence  on  opinion,  the 
withdrawal  of  a  mind  which  exercised  so  great  an  in- 
fluence for  the  preservation  and  stability  of  our  coun- 
try, not  only  in  the  public  councils,  but  among  the 
people  themselves,  is  a  loss  indeed. 

We  submit  ourselves  to  it  as   inevitable,  as   having 


PROCEEDINGS   OF   THE   CIRCUIT   COURT.  115 

come  at  the  time  appointed  by  the  will  of  Him  in 
whose  hand  is  the  destiny  of  nations,  and  of  men,  and 
with  gratitude  that  so  much  has  been  accomplished  by 
him,  and  so  much  left  for  the  instruction  of  this  and 
future  times.  Of  his  services  and  works  as  a  states- 
man, I  can  say  nothing  after  what  others  have  said. 

But  receiving  these  communications  from  his  breth- 
ren of  the  Bar,  I  am  strongly  reminded  of  the  im- 
portance to  them  of  the  memory  and  fame  of  this 
great  lawyer.  The  illustrious  names  and  great  deeds 
which  centuries  have  gathered  are  the  richest  treasures 
of  a  nation.  The  master-pieces  of  literature  and  art 
dignify  the  pursuits  in  which  they  were  produced. 

We  may  claim  Daniel  Webster  as  an  American  law- 
yer. Born  during  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  in  a 
family  which  took  an  honorable  part  in  that  great 
struggle,  he  was  imbued  from  his  infancy  with  Ame- 
rican ideas  and  principles.  He  was  reared  in  the  sim- 
ple habits  of  a  New  England  home.  He  was  forced 
early  into  the  rough  and  invigorating  contact  with 
nature  among  the  mountains  where  he  had  his  birth- 
place. He  was  trained  in  the  college  of  his  native 
State.  He  studied  our  common  law ;  for  although  it 
was  painfully  wrought  out  from  age  to  age  in  another 
land,  yet  it  was  by  our  ancestors,  and  I  thank  God 
that  by  as  good  a  title  as  can  be  shown  under  its 
rules,  it  is  our  healthy  and  manly  intellectual,  as  well 
as  political,  inheritance.  He  knew  it  as  it  is  in  Lit- 
tleton, this  his  great  commentator,  and  in  Plowden 
and  Saunders,  as  well  as  in  its  more  modern  sources. 
II is  mind  was  imbued  with  its  logic,  and  its  peculiar 
style  was  as  familiar  to  him  as  that  of  Taylor  or  Mil- 


116  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

ton.  Its  fundamental  principles  had  become  a  part  of 
the  structure  of  his  mind,  and  under  these  new  skies 
he  maintained  and  advanced  those  great  principles  of 
personal  liberty  under  the  law  and  by  the  law,  and 
the  absolute  security  of  private  property,  which  con- 
stitute the  vital  power  of  the  common  law.  But  it 
must  not  be  forgotten,  for  the  honor  of  American  ju- 
risprudence, and  for  his  honor,  that  he  entered  a  field 
such  as  has  existed  nowhere  else  in  any  age. 

It  was  and  is  one  of  the  excellencies  of  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States  that  it  did  not  attempt 
too  much,  that  it  is  neither  a  treatise  nor  a  code,  but 
a  simple  enumeration  of  the  great  powers  and  princi- 
ples necessary  to  constitute  the  government  of  our 
country.  When  this  government  was  put  into  opera- 
tion in  the  same  territory  and  over  the  same  people, 
having  distinct  State  governments  of  their  own,  ques- 
tions of  the  last  importance  to  the  tranquillity  and 
peace  of  the  country,  and  to  the  efficiency  and  suc- 
cess of  the  new  government,  necessarily  arose.  Few 
men,  whose  attention  has  not  been  particularly  direct- 
ed to  this  subject,  are  aware  of  the  number,  the  im- 
portance, or  the  difficulty  of  these  questions.  A  coun- 
try, already  vast  in  extent,  and  whose  resources,  in  a 
rapid  course  of  development,  were  incalculable  j  whose 
people,  after  great  suffering,  had,  by  their  own  acts, 
become  a  nation,  had  created  a  court  of  justice,  and 
delegated  to  it  the  power,  and  imposed  upon  it,  under 
the  most  solemn  sanctions,  the  duty  of  declaring  void 
all  legislative  acts  not  in  conformity  with  the  Consti- 
tution, and  of  restraining  within  their  appropriate  limits 
of  power  the  State  sovereignties  under  which  the  peo- 
ple lived. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF   THE   CIRCUIT   COURT.  117 

Questions  which  elsewhere  could  have  been  settled 
only  by  mere  force,  or  by  diplomatic  negotiations, 
which  force  influences,  were  here  to  be  brought  to 
an  arbitrament,  according  to  the  staid,  settled,  and  re- 
gular course  of  judicial  procedure. 

Into  these  contests  Mr.  Webster  entered,  and  for 
them  he  was  fitted,  I  think,  as  no  other  man  has 
been.  He  brought  to  these  great  debates  extensive 
and  accurate  historical  learning,  especially  concerning 
the  Constitution  itself;  a  clearness  of  conception,  com- 
prehensiveness of  grasp,  and  logical  power  never  sur- 
passed ;  and  to  all  these  was  added  a  command  of 
the  English  tongue,  which,  for  demonstrative  oratory, 
has,  I  think,  not  been  equalled. 

We  may  all  conceive,  what  many  yet  know,  that  he 
was  able  to  render,  and  did  render  to  his  country,  and 
to  the  cause  of  justice  and  peace,  the  most  eminent 
service,  in  this  unobtrusive  but  important  scene  of 
action.  And  we  shall  make  but  poor  use  of  his  great 
example  if  we  do  not  borrow  from  it  higher  concep- 
tions and  broader  views  of  the  capacities  and  duties 
of  his  and  our  profession.  Of  even  the  most  promi- 
nent causes  of  great  and  permanent  public  importance 
in  which  Mr.  Webster  was  engaged,  there  is  not  time 
here  to  speak,  but  it  may  be  said  generally,  without 
doing  any  injustice  to  the  great  magistrates  by  whom 
they  were  determined,  what  indeed  they  were  ever 
ready  to  acknowledge,  that  they  derived  most  import- 
ant assistance  from  the  labors  of  Mr.  Webster. 

It  is  the  general  destiny  of  lawyers  to  leave  behind 
them  but  few  traces,  and  no  monuments,  of  their  in- 
tellectual labor.  Eloquence  and  learning,  and  devotion 


118  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

to  duty,  and  strenuous  effort,  and  high  courage,  serve 
their  uses  of  the  day,  and  doubtless  find  their  regard 
in  the  breast  of  their  possessor,  but  with  him  often 
dies  even  their  memory.  How  little  do  we  know  of 
the  forensic  arguments  of  Ames,  or  Dexter,  or  Otis. 
Vague  impressions  of  their  power  still  linger  on  the 
fleeting  recollections  of  a  few  living  men,  to  depart, 
when  they  go  home,  and  leave  no  trace  behind. 

To  a  very  considerable  extent  Mr.  Webster  will  pro- 
bably not  partake  of  this  ordinary  lot  of  his  brethren. 
Many  of  his  forensic  arguments  have  been  made  in 
causes  of  such  great  and  permanent  importance,  they 
are  so  admirable  in  themselves,  and  in  general  have 
been  so  well  preserved,  that  they  may  be  expected 
to  be  recurred  to  and  studied  while  the  Constitution 
shall  endure. 

What  estimate  posterity  may  form  of  the  importr 
ance  to  them  of  this  part  of  his  labors,  it  would  be 
presumptuous  in  us  to  attempt  to  decide.  But  for 
ourselves  we  can  declare,  that  he  who  has  strength- 
ened the  foundations  of  the  Constitution,  and  shielded 
it  from  hostile  attack,  and  made  apparent  to  the  af- 
fections of  the  people,  the  strength  and  beauty  of  its 
proportions  and  the  peace  and  safety  which  are  to  be 
found  only  within  its  walls,  has  rendered  to  us  a  ser- 
vice not  lightly  to  be  esteemed  or  soon  forgotten. 

That  in  this  I  do  but  feebly  express  what  this  nation 
now  feels,  no  man  can  doubt.  To  what  has  been  so 
eloquently  said  at  the  Bar  concerning  his  life  and  his 
death,  it  cannot  be  necessary  that  I  should  express 
my  assent.  But  I  desire  to  say,  what  I  strongly  feel 
and  what  it  must  gratify  every  man  who  loves  his 


PROCEEDINGS    OF   THE   CIRCUIT    COURT.  119 

country  to  feel,  that  the  death  of  Mr.  Webster  has 
given  us  a  new  and  affecting  proof  that  we  are  indeed 
one  people,  united  by  a  common  attachment  to  our 
country  and  to  its  great  institutions  and  principles, 
and  to  the  men  who  represent  and  uphold  them; 
that  underneath  the  strife  of  parties  and  the  more 
miserable  contests  of  sections  and  factions,  deep  in  the 
American  heart  is  a  love  of  the  whole  country,  and 
therefore  it  is  that  from  that  heart  has  come  the  utter- 
ances of  grief,  which  arise  everywhere  over  this  broad 
land ;  grief  for  the  loss  of  the  man  whose  heart  was 
large  enough,  and  whose  mind  was  comprehensive 
enough  to  include  this  Union,  with  all  its  interests 
and  dependencies,  and  opinions,  and  obligations,  and 
rights.  And  the  great  principles  which  he  had  so 
powerfully  taught  in  his  life,  receive  from  his  death  a 
new  sanction  by  his  countrymen. 


PROCEEDINGS 


IN    THE 


SUPREME  JUDICIAL  COURT 


OF 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


16 


• 

Ld 


PROCEEDINGS    IN    THE    SUPREME    JUDICIAL 
COURT  OF  MASSACHUSETTS. 


THIS  Court  was  holding  the  Law  Term  at  Taunton, 
in  Bristol  county.  There  were  present  Chief  Justice 
SHAW,  and  Justices  DEWEY,  METCALF,  BIGELOW,  and 
GUSHING. 

A  meeting  of  the  Bar  was  held  October  26;  Hon. 
Charles  J.  Holmes,  of  Fall  River,  was  chosen  Chair- 
man, and  Jacob  H.  Loud,  of  Plymouth,  was  appointed 
Secretary.  A  Committee  of  seven  was  appointed  by 
the  Chair,  to  take  such  order,  and  report  such  resolu- 
tions, as  would  express  the  sentiments  of  the  Bar  on 
occasion  of  the  demise  of  the  late  Honorable  Daniel 
Webster ;  and  Messrs.  Coffin  of  New  Bedford,  Whitman 
of  Abington,  G.  Marston  of  Barnstable,  Colby  of  New 
Bedford,  Farnsworth  of  Pawtucket,  Eliot  of  New  Bed- 
ford, and  Miller  of  Wareham,  were  appointed  said 
Committee. 

The  Committee  presented  the  following  Resolutions, 
which  were  unanimously  adopted. 

The  members  of  the  Bar  of  the  Old  Colony,  composed  of  the 
counties  of  Bristol,  Plymouth,  Barnstable,  and  Dukes  County,  hav- 
ing learned  with  the  most  profound  sorrow  the  decease  of  the 


124  WEBSTEK   MEMORIAL. 

Honorable  Daniel  "Webster,  avail  themselves  of  this  earliest  oppor- 
tunity, at  their  Annual  Meeting  at  the  Law  Term  of  the  Supreme 
Judicial  Court,  now  held  at  Taunton,  to  express  the  sentiments 
which  they  entertain,  in  common  with  the  whole  country,  at  the 
irreparable  loss  which  they  and  that  country  have  sustained ;  — 
Therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  services  of  Daniel  Webster  to  his  country 
demand,  from  the  members  of  this  Bar,  an  expression  of  their  deep 
sorrow  at  his  decease,  and  of  their  admiration  for  the  unrivalled 
greatness  of  his  character. 

Resolved,  That  this  Bar  desire  to  withdraw  for  a  season  from  their 
ordinary  pursuits,  to  meditate  upon  the  loss  of  the  most  eminent  of 
their  number,  and  to  mingle  their  sorrows  with  those  of  a  nation  that 
now  mourns  his  departure. 

Resolved,  That  we  deeply  sympathize  with  the  family  of  our 
deceased  Brother,  and  that  a  copy  of  these  Resolutions,  as  an  ex- 
pression of  that  sympathy,  be  transmitted  to  them. 

Resolved,  That  the  Attorney- General  of  the  Commonwealth  be 
requested  to  present  these  Resolutions  to  the  Supreme  Judicial 
Court  now  in  session,  and  ask  that  they  may  be  entered  on  their 
records. 

Upon  presenting  the  foregoing  resolutions,  Attor- 
ney-General CLIFFORD  addressed  the  Court : 

May  it  please  your  Honors  —  At  the  request  of 
my  Brethren  of  the  Bar  of  the  Old  Colony,  and  as 
their  organ,  I  rise  to  ask  your  Honors  to  suspend 
for  a  while  our  customary  labors,  in  recognition  of 
an  event,  which  requires,  from  us  to  you,  no  formal 
announcement.  It  has  already  shrouded  the  nation 
in  gloom,  and  bowed  in  grief  the  universal  heart. 

Our  elder  Brother  of  the  Bar,  our  professional  ex- 
emplar, guide,  and  friend,  Daniel  Webster,  is  no 
more  !  And  where,  throughout  the  broad  land,  which 
is  filled  with  the  tokens  of  his  labors  and  his  life, 
where  can  the  homelike  feeling  of  personal  grief,  for 


PROCEEDINGS   IN   THE   SUPREME   COURT.  125 

a  personal  loss,  find  a  more  natural  and  fitting  ex- 
pression, than  among  his1  professional  brethren  of  the 
Old  Colony?  Here  was  the  latest  home  of  his  affec- 
tions. It  will  be  the  last  home  of  all  of  him  that 
belongs  to  earth. 

At  our  first  annual  assembling  in  the  presence  of 
this  Court,  where  his  living  voice  has  so  often  uttered 
the  highest  wisdom,  and  where  his  spirit  will  long 
linger,  I  am  desired  to  submit  to  the  Court  certain 
resolutions,  which  the  Bar  have  adopted,  as  an  expres- 
sion of  their  sense  of  the  magnitude  of  the  loss  which 
they,  in  common  with  the  whole  country,  have  sus- 
tained. They  have  had  no  time,  or  opportunity,  nor 
have  they  desired  it,  to  clothe  in  any  elaborate  forms 
of  rhetoric,  the  sentiments  with  which  this  solemn 
event  has  filled  their  hearts.  They  offer  these  brief 
resolutions  as  a  simple  and  spontaneous  expression 
of  the  feeling  which  this  great  national  bereave- 
ment has  inspired.  And  1  shall  most  satisfactorily 
discharge  the  duty  with  which  I  am  charged  by  my 
brethren,  and  best  answer  their  expectations  and 
wishes,  by  accompanying  them  with  a  few  simple 
prefatory  words. 

Under  this  autumn  sun,  a  rich  harvest  has  been 
gathered  into  the  garner  of  mortality.  In  both  hem- 
ispheres, the  two  foremost  men  of  the  two  leading 
nations  of  the  civilized  world,  to  each  of  whom  was 
committed  by  their  Creator  the  perilous  gift  of  the 
ten  talents,  have  been  summoned  by  Him  to  give  an 
account  of  their  stewardship ;  the  soldier-statesman  — 
the  lawyer-statesman,  —  each  in  his  sphere  mightiest 
among  the  mighty  ;  both,  too,  following  close  upon 


126  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

the  footsteps  of  another  great  luminary  of  our  pro- 
fession, whose  mortal  light  has  just  faded  behind  yon- 
der western  hills,  and  for  whose  departure  the  tears 
are  yet  moist  upon  a  nation's  cheek. 

Were  it  not,  Mr.  Chief  Justice,  for  our  Christian 
faith  in  that  overruling  Providence,  whose  dread  sum- 
mons it  is  that  has  just  been  so  often  sounded  in 
our  ears,  and  who  we  know  "  ordereth  all  things 
well,"  as  he  u  doeth  his  pleasure  among  the  inhabit- 
ants of  the  earth,"  we  might  be  tempted,  in  this 
hour  of  our  bereavement,  to  utter  the  desponding  la- 
mentation which  the  great  poet  has  so  touchingly 
expressed  in  verse. 

We   have  fallen  upon   evil  days, 
Star  after  star  decays, 
The  brightest  names,   that  shed 
Light  o'er  the  land,  have  fled. 

In  contemplating  the  character  and  career  of  Mr. 
Webster  as  a  lawyer,  we  can  scarcely  measure  the 
magnitude  of  the  debt  which,  as  lawyers,  we  owe  to 
him.  Let  those  who  aspire  to  reach  the  pure  heights 
of  this  noble  profession  —  and  who  that  is  stirred  by 
a  spark  of  worthy  ambition,  does  not  so  aspire  ?  — 
remember  the  encouragement  his  life  has  furnished 
to  every  youth  whose  days  are  devoted  to  its  toil- 
some pursuit.  What  a  reflected  light  have  his  great 
achievements  thrown  back  upon  the  humble  home  of 
his  childhood  among  the  New  Hampshire  hills ;  from 
which,  by  patient  and  unremitting  labor,  devoted  with 
unsurpassed  fidelity  to  his  profession,  he  advanced  to 
a  position  in  the  world's  regard  which  will  make  that 
humble  home  a  shrine  of  pilgrimage  through  all  com- 


PROCEEDINGS    OF   THE   SUPREME   COURT.  127 

ing  time.  Wherever,  throughout  the  world,  justice  is 
administered  among  men,  he  has  made  the  name  of 
an  American  lawyer  an  honored  name.  His  worthy 
conceptions  of  the  true  character  of  the  profession, 
the  exalted  aims  which  he  early  set  before  himself, 
in  its  pursuit,  and  the  admirable  and  resolute  train- 
ing of  all  his  great  faculties  to  meet  its  require- 
ments, enabled  him  to  shed  upon  it  a  new  glory,  by 
showing  to  the  world  its  fitness  for  training  the  in- 
tellectual powers  for  the  highest  achievements  of 
statesmanship.  To  the  most  brilliant  effort  of  his 
public  career,  he  carried  the  training  and  discipline 
of  the  lawyer's  mind,  and  through  it  he  achieved  a 
triumph  for  himself  and  for  his  country,  the  effects 
of  which  will  last  as  long  as  the  Union  which  it  esta- 
blished, and  the  memory  of  which  will  be  coeval  with 
the  knowledge  of  his  native  tongue. 

When  he  was  summoned  to  that  "  Great  Debate," 
he  found  that  in  certain  portions  of  the  country  there 
was  a  prevalent,  confused  idea,  that  the  Government 
of  the  United  States  was  a  mere  confederation,  or 
congeries  of  independent  States,  a  phantom,  an  unreal 
mockery  of  power.  With  a  masterly  exertion  of  that 
great  faculty  which  he  possessed  in  so  eminent  a  de- 
gree beyond  all  other  men,  of  making  the  most  com- 
plicated and  difficult  problem  simple  and  intelligible 
to  the  humblest  mind,  he  established  that  Government 
on  the  irreversible  convictions  of  the  people  of  this 
country,  as  a  real,  living,  substantial  thing  —  the  effi- 
cient Government  of  a  great  Empire,  founded  upon 
the  sovereignty  of  the  whole  people. 


128  WEBSTER  MEMORIAL. 

No  other  man  of  our  time  could  have  accomplished 
this  great  work,  so  vital  to  every  interest  of  this 
Union.  Mighty  in  intellect,  of  a  most  majestic  pre- 
sence, of  infinite  gifts  and  resources,  the  impress  of 
greatness  was  stamped  upon  him  by  the  hand  of  the 
Almighty.  He  seemed  to  be  the  very  type  and  em- 
bodiment of  Shakspeare's  apostrophe  to  man :  K  How 
noble  in  reason  —  how  infinite  in  faculties  —  in  form 
and  moving,  how  express  and  admirable  —  in  appre- 
hension how  like  a  God ! " 

But  he  has  gone  from  amongst  us,  and  we  would 
turn  in  cheerful  Christian  faith  from  the  gloomy  as- 
pect of  this  great  bereavement,  to  the  felicities  which 
attended  the  close  of  his  earthly  career. 

He  had  rounded  the  full  measure  of  threescore 
years  and  ten.  The  great  record  of  his  long  life's 
services  to  his  country  had  been  made  up.  His  work 
was  finished.  He  enjoyed  the  full  fruition  of  that 
Eastern  benediction  which  is  so  dear  to  the  heart  of 
man,  that  it  has  been  wrought  into  the  expression  of 
a  universal  wish,  "May  you  die  among  your  kindred." 
More  than  all,  it  was  vouchsafed  to  him  to  realize 
the  hope,  which  he  once  expressed  in  language  of 
surpassing  sublimity  and  fervor,  that  "  When  his  eye 
should  be  turned  for  the  last  time  to  behold  the 
sun  in  heaven,  he  might  not  see  him  shining  on  the 
broken  and  dishonored  fragments  of  a  once  glorious 
Union."  Thanks  be  to  God,  "its  last  feeble  and  lin- 
gering glance  beheld  the  gorgeous  ensign  of  the  Re- 
public, known  and  honored  throughout  the  earth,  still 
full  high  advanced  —  not  a  stripe  erased  or  polluted, 
or  a  star  obscured." 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  SUPREME  COURT.       129 

And  thus  this  great  man  departed.  Surrounded 
by  all 

—  that  which  should  accompany  old  age, 
As  honor,  love,  obedience,  troops  of  friends. 

His  last  words  still  echo  in  our  ears,  as  they  will 
echo  in  the  ears  of  other  generations  of  men,  long 
after  we  shall  have  passed  away  like  the  dust  of  the 
summer  threshing-floor.  "  I  still  live."  How  true  for 
him,  in  this  world,  throughout  all  time.  "  Vita  brevis 
est ;  cursus  glorice  sempitermis"  May  we  not  hum- 
bly trust  that  it  was  equally  true  for  him  in  that 
higher  and  better  sense  which  assures  us  of  his  par- 
ticipation in  the  gracious  promise,  — "  He  that  liveth 
and  believeth  in  me,  shall  never  die." 

Mr.  Clifford  then  read  the  resolutions  adopted  by 
the  Bar,  and  moved  the  Court  that  they  be  entered 
upon  its  records,  and  that  the  Court  do  now  adjourn. 

Chief  Justice  SHAW  responded  on  the  part  of  the 
Court  as  follows  : 

Gentlemen  of  the  Old  Colony  Bar — This  Court,  in 
behalf  of  whom  I  now  speak,  do  most  cordially  assure 
you  of  their  full  participation  in  the  feelings  of  pro- 
found sadness  and  grief,  which  everywhere  pervade 
this  great  community,  in  view  of  the  signal,  bereave- 
ment which  we  all  deplore,  and  their  sincere  sym- 
pathy in  the  sentiments  expressed  in  the  resolutions 
which  you  have  now  offered.  We  are  called  upon  to 
lament  the  loss  of  an  illustrious  man,  of  an  eminent 
statesman,  of  a  profound  jurist,  and  eloquent  advocate. 
It  seems  fitting,  therefore,  amidst  the  exciting  inte- 
rests, the  exacting  cares,  and  the  laborious  duties,  to 

17 


130  WEBSTER    MEMORIAL. 

which  we  are  devoted,  to  pause,  and  listen  with  re- 
verent awe,  to  the  deep  lessons  of  wisdom,  which  Pro- 
vidence is  teaching  us,  by  an  event  so  impressive. 
We  are  thus  forcibly  reminded,  that  however  illus- 
trious any  man  may  become  for  learning  and  wisdom, 
that  however  important  and  necessary  his  life  and  ser- 
vices may  seem  to  his  friends,  his  country,  and  his 
race,  to  whatever  height  of  fame  and  prosperity  he 
may  have  reached,  still  the  time  of  his  departure 
comes  as  it  comes  to  all,  when  all  the  attractions  of 
earth  lose  their  lustre  and  their  force,  and  we  are 
awakened  to  a  deep  conviction  of  the  solemn  realities 
of  another  life,  in  comparison  with  which  all  the  in- 
terests of  this  our  mortal  being,  seem  trifling  and 
insignificant. 

We  are  now  forcibly  reminded  by  all  that  we  see 
and  feel,  that  a  great  man  has  fallen  among  us.  Mr. 
Webster  has  long  been  in  the  full  view  of  our  whole 
community,  regarded  as  a  man  of  great  wisdom,  a 
prudent  guide  and  counsellor,  who  had  the  best  good 
of  his  country  and  of  his  race  always  at  heart.  Con- 
spicuous alike  for  his  commanding  talents,  his  large 
and  comprehensive  views,  the  purity  and  correctness 
of  all  his  great  purposes,  he  was  looked  to,  as  one 
who  could  be  safely  trusted  in  the  darkest  hours  of 
his  country's  prospects,  to  protect  her  from  suffering 
and  peril,  from  within  and  from  without.  Mr.  Web- 
ster's whole  course  of  public  life,  in  which  he  has 
been  steadily  advancing  in  honor  and  usefulness,  has 
been  known  and  visible  to  the  whole  community;  and 
the  strong  and  universal  manifestation  of  grief  and 
sadness,  which  have  everywhere  followed  the  news  of 


PROCEEDINGS    OF   THE   SUPREME   COURT.  131 

his  decease,  afford  ample  proof  of  the  firm  hold  which 
he  had  upon  the  confidence  and  affections  of  the 
people. 

As  a  statesman,  he  was  equally  distinguished  by  the 
resources  of  his  capacious  mind,  and  the  eminent  wis- 
dom of  his  counsels.  In  the  exertion  of  his  great 
powers,  in  public  affairs,  no  partial  or  sectional  in- 
terests, no  private  or  party  views  could  allure  him 
from  the  path  of  the  general  and  public  good.  Dazzled 
by  no  visionary  theories,  deluded  by  no  speculative  pro- 
jects, his  views  were  decidedly  practical  and  attain- 
able ;  looking  to  the  actual  and  various  conditions,  to 
all  the  liberal  and  industrial  pursuits  of  the  whole 
people  of  the  Union,  he  was  equally  comprehensive  in 
his  regards,  and  just  and  discriminating  in  his  mea- 
sures. He  was  ardently  devoted  to  the  support  of  the 
Constitution  in  its  integrity,  because  he  regarded  it, 
under  Providence,  as  the  only  safeguard  and  guaranty 
of  the  Union ;  and  he  loved  the  Union,  because,  in  his 
sober  judgment,  its  preservation  is  essentially  neces- 
sary to  the  peace,  liberty,  and  security,  and  conse- 
quently to  the  best  and  truest  interests  of  the  whole 
community.  Peace,  internal  harmony,  security  for  all 
personal,  social,  and  political  rights,  these,  if  we  may 
judge  from  his  clear  and  often  repeated  declarations, 
were,  in  his  view,  the  leading  object  of  all  govern- 
ment ;  and  that)  practically,  that  government  is  best 
which  gives  the  highest  encouragement  to  personal 
exertion,  and  the  largest  scope  to  individual  enterprise, 
in  every  honest  and  laudable  pursuit,  which  can  be 
given,  consistently  with  a  just  regard  and  an  effectual 
security  to  the  equal  rights  of  all. 


132  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

But  this  is  not  the  time  or  place  to  attempt  a  dis- 
criminating or  detailed  view,  of  Mr.  Webster's  high 
qualities  as  a  statesman.  He  will  long  be  remembered 
throughout  the  Union,  on  the  ocean  and  in  the  work- 
shop, on  the  farm,  and  in  every  walk  of  industry,  as 
the  defender  of  the  Constitution,  the  faithful  friend  of 
the  Union,  and  the  advocate  of  the  just  rights  of  all 
the  members  of  this  great  and  growing  community. 

In  addressing  myself  to  a  body  devoted  to  the 
study  and  practice  of  the  law,  and  the  administration 
of  justice,  many  of  whom  have  been  associated  with 
him  as  a  professional  brother  and  friend,  and  all  of 
whom  have  been  accustomed  to  regard  him  as  an 
honor  to  the  profession  which  they  love,  it  seems  more 
fitting  to  allude  briefly  to  the  character  of  Mr.  Web- 
ster, as  a  jurist  and  an  advocate.  He  early  selected 
the  study  of  the  law,  which,  when  faithfully  and  honor- 
ably pursued,  may  justly  be  regarded  as  a  high  and 
honorable  profession,  inasmuch  as  it  looks  to  the  prac- 
tical assertion  of  right,  liberty,  and  justice,  as  its  lead- 
ing object.  He  soon  distinguished  himself  for  great 
research,  for  large  and  comprehensive  views  of  the 
law,  and  of  those  broad  principles  of  right  and  justice, 
having  their  deep  and  immovable  foundations  in  the 
moral  laws  of  our  nature,  which  constitute  the  true  basis 
of  all  law.  As  soon  as  he  entered  on  the  career  of 
practice,  he  became  distinguished  at  once,  as  a  learned 
jurist  and  an  eloquent  advocate.  With  a  natural  acu- 
men and  power  of  legal  discrimination  quite  unsur- 
passed, with  a  force  of  logic  and  power  of  eloquence, 
which  gave  to  every  argument  its  most  efficient  im- 
press, he  soon  attained  to  a  rank  in  his  profession, 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  SUPREME  COURT.        133 

which  elevated  him  to  an  equality  with  those  who 
had  been  previously  regarded  as  the  lights  of  the  pro- 
fessional firmament  in  this  and  the  neighboring  States, 
and  who  were  then  held  in  the  highest  estimation  for 
professional  eminence. 

In  one  department,  that  of  Constitutional  law,  he 
was  peculiarly  distinguished,  and  gained  a  reputation 
second  perhaps  to  no  one,  unless  that  of  him  who 
was  so  long  distinguished  as  the  head  of  the  first  ju- 
dicial tribunal  of  the  country. 

Starting,  like  other  students,  with  no  extraordinary 
external  aid,  and  reaching  the  highest  eminence,  the 
example  of  Mr.  Webster  may  well  be  held  up  as  an 
encouragement  to  young  men,  struggling  in  the  earlier 
stages  of  a  profession  requiring  persevering  effort  and 
untiring  industry.  Let  those  who  have  watched  the 
dawn  of  his  early  professional  reputation,  the  splen- 
dor of  his  meridian  success,  and  have  now  witnessed 
its  brilliant  close,  take  courage,  and  hope  on,  holding 
his  virtues  and  his  industry  as^  a  high  example,  and 
his  renown  as  a  never-failing  encouragement  to  pa- 
tience and  perseverance  in  well  doing. 

In  these  remarks,  brief  and  hasty  as  they  are,  I 
would  not  wholly  overlook  the  example  and  influence 
of  Mr.  Webster,  as  a  man,  a  friend,  a  member  of  so- 
ciety, and  a  public  benefactor.  Always  foremost  in 
the  promotion  of  all  social  institutions,  for  education, 
for  the  improvement  of  mind,  for  the  cultivation  of 
the  social  affections,  for  the  improvement  of  taste,  he 
did  much  to  give  value  and  dignity,  as  well  as  grace 
and  elegance  to  refined  society.  Devoted  to  the  cul- 
tivation of  letters,  seeking  in  the  annals  of  the  past 


134  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

the  examples  of  the  wise  and  .good  for  the  encourage- 
ment and  improvement  of  the  present  times,  venerat- 
ing especially  the  virtues  and  achievements  of  our 
hardy  ancestors,  he  was  ever  ready,  with  his  treasures 
of  learning  and  his  powers  of  eloquence,  to  unite  with 
others  in  commemoration  of  great  events,  and  inte- 
resting epochs.  Wherever  particular  times  and  places 
have  been  consecrated  to  the  love  of  liberty  and  of 
country,  to  the  commemoration  of  illustrious  public 
benefactors,  there  was  he  prepared  to  utter  the  elo- 
quent words  of  wisdom  to  listening  crowds,  where  their 
import  would  be  most  impressive.  At  Plymouth  Rock, 
at  Bunker  Hill,  at  the  Monument  of  Washington,  wher- 
ever the  wise  and  good  assembled  to  commune  and 
learn  wisdom  from  the  past,  his  presence,  and  his  glow- 
ing eloquence,  were  not  wanting. 

But  he  is  gone;  a  great  light  and  glory  of  our 
age  has  departed  from  our  sight,  not  indeed  until  he 
had  done  all  that  a  great  statesman,  an  illustrious 
advocate,  a  humble  and  devout  Christian,  a  most  dis- 
tinguished citizen  and  man  could  do,  to  improve  and 
benefit  his  age  and  his  race,  and  especially,  as  his 
crowning  excellence,  to  turn  their  hearts  and  thoughts 
from  the  alluring  engagements  and  engrossing  cares 
of  this  transitory  life,  to  a  higher  and  more  enduring 
state  of  existence  beyond  the  grave.  In  this  view,  it 
is  fit  that  we  now  regard  him  as  one  who  has  done 
much  to  benefit  one  world,  without  omitting  the  higher 
function  of  pointing  the  way  to  another.  Let  us  be 
grateful  to  a  benign  Providence  for  all  the  good 
which  the  statesman  and  benefactor  was  able  to  do ; 
and  let  us  profit  by  the  good  examples  he  has  given 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  SUPREME  COURT.       135 

us,  and  the  grave  lessons  which  his  life,  character, 
and  death  have  taught  us.  Whilst  devoting  ourselves 
faithfully,  and  with  all  our  powers,  to  the  discharge 
of  our  duties,  those  duties  which  we  fondly  flatter 
ourselves  are  high  and  important,  and  which  do  in- 
deed touch  the  dearest  earthly  interests  of  men,  and 
of  communities,  let  us  never  forget,  that  amidst  theso, 
as  part  of  these,  and  necessary  to  their  just  perform- 
ance, that  there  is  one  duty  never  to  be  overlooked, 
that  of  a  steady  and  constant  regard,  and  of  a  fre- 
quent and  solemn  reflection  on  the  higher  subjects  of 
life,  death,  and  immortality;  that,  whether  we  live  or 
die,  we  may  be  found  in  the  way  of  duty. 


PROCEEDINGS 


OF    THE 


BOSTON  SCHOOL  COMMITTEE. 


18 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE    BOSTON    SCHOOL 
COMMITTEE. 


AT  the  meeting  of  the  Boston  Grammar  School 
Committee,  on  Tuesday,  November  22,  the  following 
resolutions  were  submitted  by  Dr.  ADAMS: 

Whereas,  Almighty  God  has  seen  fit  to  remove  from  us,  by  death, 
one  whom  all  unite  in  calling  "  the  foremost  man  of  our  country," 
the  School  Committee  of  the  city  of  Boston,  at  their  first  meeting, 
after  the  announcement  of  this  sad  intelligence,  not  only  would  avail 
themselves  of  the  opportunity,  but  deem  it  their  duty,  to  give  utter- 
ance to  their  feelings  on  this  solemn  occasion ;  Therefore, 

Resolved,  That  while  we  submit  with  all  humility  to  this  afflict- 
ing dispensation,  we  cannot  but  deplore  for  our  country  and  the 
world,  this  extinction  of  their  brightest  ornament  and  ablest  mind. 

Resolved,  That  in  the  death  of  Daniel  Webster  we  recognize  the 
loss  of  one  in  whom  existed  that  rare  combination  of  the  brightest 
intellect  and  the  largest  capacity,  under  the  government  and  control 
of  moral  influences ;  one,  in  whose  own  language,  our  common  school 
system  was  called  "  that  celestial  and  that  earthly  light,"  under 
which  the  young  men  of  our  country  shall  come  up,  fitted  intellect- 
ually and  morally  to  sustain  and  perpetuate  our  free  institutions. 

Resolved,  That  while  the  deep,  mellow  tones  of  that  voice,  which 
have  so  often  delighted  our  ears,  shall  be  heard  no  more  forever, 
and  the  significant  glance  of  those  once  piercing  eyes,  are  now 
dimmed  in  death ;  yet  in  his  own  last  words,  "  He  still  lives ; "  yes, 
and  will  live  by  his  teachings  and  noble  example  in  the  mind  and 
heart  of  every  true  American,  so  long  as  the  last  glimmer  of  the 


140  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

light  of  human  freedom  shall  continue  "  to  linger  and  play  on   the 
summit"  of  our  temple  of  liberty. 

Rev.  HUBBARD  WINSLOW  said: 

Mr.  President  —  I  rise  to  second,  most  cordially,  the 
resolutions  just  offered.  I  do  not  propose  to  occupy 
much  time  with  remarks ;  but  before  engaging  in  our 
customary  business,  at  this  first  meeting  of  the  board 
since  the  death  of  Mr.  Webster,  it  becomes  us  to 
pause  and  consecrate  our  first  thoughts  to  that  great 
and  solemn  event. 

The  mournful  tidings  have,  ere  this,  gone  over  the 
length  and  breadth  of  the  land;  the  entire  nation  is 
now  in  tears.  And  they  are  neither  feigned  nor  ordi- 
nary tears.  They  come  from  the  deepest  fountain  of 
the  soul,  and  they  refuse  to  be  dried  up.  The  more 
the  heart  seeks  to  be  comforted,  the  more  it  refuses 
all  comfort,  but  such  as  comes  only  from  above. 

In  a  beautiful  German  fable,  representing  our  pro- 
genitor as  weeping  over  the  first  human  victim  of 
death,  and  exclaiming,  "  What  now  remains  for  me,  in 
my  lamentation?"  a  bright  cherub  from  the  skies  an- 
swers, "  Der  Blick  gen  Himmel ! "  A  look  to  Heaven  ! 
That  only  remains  to  us  —  to  this  mourning  nation; 
in  the  loss  of  its  truest  friend  and  brightest  ornament. 
That  same  cherub  still  hovers  on  poised  wing,  between 
earth  and  heaven ;  still  he  beckons  us,  and  points 
the  eye  of  hope  to  those  golden  portals  —  those  ever- 
lasting gates —  through  which  the  immortal  spirit  of 
the  great  man  has  just  passed,  into  regions  of  uncre- 
ated light  and  glory.  From  those  imperial  heights, 
beyond  the  reach  of  mortality  and  change,  a  voice 
came  to  us  from  him,  "not  dead,  but  gone  before," 


PROCEEDINGS    OF   THE   BOSTON    SCHOOL    COMMITTEE.      141 

"I  still  live."  This,  sir,  is  our  consolation.  Webster 
still  lives,  and  will  live  forever. 

We  should  not  be  willing  to  accept  the  benefits 
which  he  has  bestowed  upon  us,  great  as  they  are,  if 
they  must  needs  cost  the  final  sacrifice  of  him  by 
whom  they  have  been  bestowed.  But  when  we  think 
of  him  as  still  living,  looking  down  from  the  skies 
upon  us,  and  contemplating  the  future  glories  of  this 
and  other  nations,  as  enhanced  by  his  labors  and  his 
undying  principles,  our  hearts  are  comforted,  and  we 
gratefully  accept  the  priceless  legacy  he  has  be- 
queathed us. 

And  what  a  legacy !  "  The  great  principles  of 
Magna  Charta,  of  the  English  Revolution,  and  es- 
pecially of  the  American  Revolution,  of  the  English 
language. "  Well  might  he  say  — "  The  day-spring 
from  on  high  has  visited  us;  the  country  has  been 
called  back  to  conscience  and  to  duty.  There  is 
no  longer  imminent  danger  of  dissolution  in  these 
United  States.  We  shall  live,  and  not  die.  We  shall 
live  as  united  Americans ;  and  those  who  have  sup- 
posed they  could  sever  us,  that  they  could  rend  one 
American  heart  from  another,  and  that  speculation  and 
hypothesis,  that  secession  and  metaphysics  could  tear 
us  asunder,  will  find  themselves  wofully  mistaken." 

To  eulogize  Daniel  Webster  is  no  part  of  my  object. 
It  as  far  transcends  my  power  as  it  does  his  neces- 
sity. Those  of  us  who  have  known  him  more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  century,  in  the  various  walks  of  public 
and  of  private  life,  have  his  eulogy  already  deeply 
written  on  our  hearts. 

That    noble    and    majestic    form,    that    colossal   and 


142  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

classic  head,  those  large  and  brilliant  eyes ;  that  coun- 
tenance, so  benignant  in  smile  and  so  terrible  in  frown ; 
the  tout  ensemble  of  that  entire  personage,  so  peculiar, 
so  striking,  so  superior  to  that  of  any  other  human 
being  we  have  ever  seen,  must  forever  retain  a  place 
in  our  most  vivid  conceptions.  Viewing  him  merely 
in  his  personal  appearance,  "  we  ne'er  shall  see  his 
like  again."  But  in  his  mental  being,  he  is  far  more 
unlike  all  others.  There  is  in  it  a  combination  of 
grandeur  and  simplicity,  of  greatness  and  minuteness, 
of  strength  and  delicacy,  which  were  never  before  so 
perfectly  blended  in  a  human  mind.  His  intellect 
was  as  the  ocean,  which  he  so  much  loved,  and  which 
only  seemed  large  enough  for  him,  on  which,  in  fair 
weather,  the  lightest  skiff  can  float  safely,  and  in  which 
the  most  deeply  freighted  ships  of  merchandise  find 
no  bottom.  The  child  could  understand  him  and  be 
instructed  by  what  he  said,  while  the  most  profound 
thinker  saw  in  him  a  "vasty  deep,"  which  he  could 
not  fathom. 

When  we  contemplate  him  in  the  forum,  carrying 
judge  and  jury,  and  all  others,  with  him,  by  argu- 
ment, at  once  so  simple  that  a  child  could  compre- 
hend it,  and  so  mighty  that  the  loftiest  intellect  bow- 
ed reverently  to  it;  when  we  think  of  him  on  those 
public  occasions,  when  mighty  themes  of  general  in- 
terest inspired  his  great  heart,  and  poured  from  his 
lips  in  strains  of  surpassing  pathos,  sublimity,  and 
classic  beauty,  to  the  outbursting  admiration  of  as- 
sembled thousands;  when  he  is  present  to  our  minds, 
as  he  ever  will  be,  in  the  lustrous  character  of  ex- 
pounder and  defender  of  the  American  Constitution, 


PROCEEDINGS    OF   THE   BOSTON    SCHOOL    COMMITTEE.     143 

unfolding  and  impressing  its  sacred  lessons  of  eternal 
obligations,  and  thus  cementing  the  bonds  of  the  Na- 
tional Union;  when  we  regard  him  as  the  civilian, 
the  diplomatist,  the  statesman,  defining  rights  and 
duties,  establishing  laws  of  reciprocity,  and  settling 
great  principles,  to  be  henceforth  recognized  by  all 
civilized  communities  and  nations,  and  doing  all  with  a 
depth  and  reach  of  wisdom  that  never  failed ;  when  we 
behold  him  fighting  the  nation's  battles,  securing  its 
victories,  protecting  its  rights  and  its  honors,  unfurl- 
ing its  triumphant  stripes  and  stars  over  all  seas,  by 
the  mere  power  of  his  intellect,  and  without  shedding 
a  drop  of  the  people's  blood,  or  wasting  an  ounce  of 
their  treasure ;  and  then,  when,  from  the  high  seats 
of  official  eminence,  we  follow  him  to  the  farm,  the 
neighborhood,  the  fireside,  and  ponder  those  tender 
graces  of  affection  which  made  him  so  dear  to  his 
family,  servants,  workmen,  neighbors,  and  all  who 
knew  him,  —  which  allowed  no  creature,  human  or 
animal,  to  suffer,  when  he  could  afford  relief,  —  and 
which  seemed  to  inspire  the  very  cattle  upon  his 
grounds  with  a  sentiment  of  admiration  and  love  for 
their  owner;  and  when,  especially,  we  see  him  as  a 
Christian,  bowing  his  great  mind,  with  the  simplicity 
of  a  child,  to  the  teachings  of  Jesus  Christ,  surren- 
dering himself  cordially  to  that  faith  which  looks  for 
honor,  glory,  and  immortality  in  Heaven,  and  resign- 
ing all  that  was  mortal  in  a  way  that  made  death  an 
apotheosis  rather  than  a  dissolution;  —  I  say,  as  he 
rises  before  us,  in  all  these  various  aspects  and  rela- 
tions, we  are  constrained  to  acknowledge  that  he  was 
a  man  by  himself,  and  that  to  have  been  privileged 


144  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

to  live  in  the  same  age,  the  same  country,  the  same 
community  with  him,  imposes  on  us  a  debt  of  no  or- 
dinary gratitude.  Henceforth,  the  age,  and  the  country 
that  gave  him  birth,  will  be  illustrious  in  the  annals 
of  time. 

But,  Sir,  it  was  with  another  view  that  I  rose  to 
speak.  We  meet  here  as  the  friends  and  guardians 
of  education.  To  us  are  intrusted,  especially,  the  in- 
terests of  our  common  and  our  public  schools.  It 
was  the  common  school  system  to  which  we  are  here 
officially  devoted,  and  which  is  the  crowning  glory  of 
this  country,  that  gave  Daniel  Webster  to  this  world. 
But  for  this,  that  gigantic  intellect  had  slumbered, 
unknowing  and  unknown,  with  those  granite  rocks 
that  gave  him  birth.  It  is  this  system  of  common 
schools  spreading  over  the  land,  all-searching  and 
pervading,  that  develops  the  hidden  treasures  of  the 
mind,  and  often  from  the  most  obscure  retreats  calls 
forth  to  life  and  power  those  mighty  intellects  which 
become  the  ornament  of  letters,  the  pride  of  science, 
the  defence  of  religion,  and  the  pillars  of  State. 

And,  Sir,  the  debt  which  that  great  man  owed  to 
the  school  system  of  this  country,  he  has  richly  paid. 
The  man  never  lived  who  thought  more  highly  of  their 
importance,  and  did  more  to  inspirit  and  enrich  them. 
As  a  friend  of  his  was  once  riding  with  him  through 
his  native  State,  and  was  speaking  of  the  dangers 
and  prospects  of  our  country,  "  There,"  said  Mr.  Web- 
ster, pointing  to  an  humble  school-house,  and  to  a 
small  church  near  it,  "  is  the  foundation  of  all  our 
hopes,  both  for  the  present  and  the  future.  It  is  to 
the  religion  and  the  schools  which  our  fathers  plant- 


PROCEEDINGS    OP    THE    BOSTON    SCHOOL    COMMITTEE.     145 

ed,  that  our  Republic  owes  its  existence ;  without  them 
there  can  be  no  rational  liberty.  So  long  as  these 
are  fostered,  our  institutions  are  safe ;  whenever  they 
shall  be  neglected,  the  knell  of  republicanism,  will  be 
tolled." 

Such  sentiments  were  perpetually  beaming  out  in 
all  his  private  conversations  and  public  speeches  in 
reference  to  the  destinies  of  our  nation.  "  I  have  seen," 
said  he,  "  and  others  of  my  age  have  seen,  the  church 
and  the  school-house  rise  and  stand  in  the  very  centre 
of  the  forest,  and  seen  them  resorted  to  in  the  midst 
of  winter  snows.  And  when  these  things  lie  at  the 
foundation  and  commencement  of  society;  where  the 
worship  of  God,  the  observance  of  morals,  and  the 
culture  of  the  human  mind,  are  springs  of  action  with 
those  who  take  hold  of  the  original  forest,  to  subdue 
it  by  strong  arms  and  strong  muscles,  there,  depend 
upon  it,  the  people  never  fail.  Everywhere,  every- 
tvhere,  on  her  hills  and  rivers,  are  these  school-houses. 
The  school-house ;  who  shall  speak  of  that  throughout 
New  England,  as  it  ought  to  be  spoken  of?  Who 
shall  speak,  in  proper  language,  of  the  wisdom,  and 
foresight,  and  benevolence,  and  sagacity  of  our  fore- 
fathers, in  establishing  a  general  system  of  public  in- 
struction as  a  great  public  police  for  the  benefit  of 
the  whole,  as  a  business  in  which  all  are  interested ! 
The  world  had  previously  seen  nothing  like  it,  al- 
though some  parts  of  the  world  have  since  copied 
from  it." 

Henceforth,  sir,  that  great  man  will  be  intimately 
associated  with  the  educational  systems  of  our  coun- 
try. The  Bar,  the  Forum,  the  Senate,  the  Council- 

19 


146  WEBSTER    MEMORIAL. 

Chamber,  shall  not  exclusively  claim  it ;  it  shall  be 
known,  and  honored,  and  loved,  from  sea  to  sea,  by 
all  the  friends  of  education,  as  the  name  of  the  most 
illustrious  champion  of  their  cause.  Henceforth,  all 
who  toil  in  the  arduous  work  of  education  shall  know 
that  the  blessing  of  Daniel  Webster  is  upon  them. 
They  are  engaging  in  the  very  work  which  he  be- 
lieved to  be,  before  all  others,  essential  to  our  welfare 
as  individuals,  and  to  our  safety  as  a  nation.  It  was 
not  merely  the  college,  the  higher  halls  of  science, 
that  he,  by  his  matchless  eloquence,  defended;  the 
common  school,  even  the  infant  school,  engaged  his 
attention  and  his  heart,  and  called  forth  his  most  im- 
passioned commendation.  His  standing  motto  was, 
Solem  e  mundo  tollwd,  qui  scientiam  e  vita  tollinit. 

But,  sir,  he  has  done  more  than  merely  to  commend 
our  school  system;  he  has  himself  engaged,  personally, 
in  the  work  of  teaching,  and  has  pronounced  the  time 
thus  spent  the  most  profitable  portion  of  his  life. 
We  have  thus  not  only  his  counsel  to  guide,  but  his 
example  to  inspirit  us. 

Nor  is  this  all ;  —  it  is,  indeed,  the  least  part.  He 
has  poured  the  measureless  wealth  of  his  own  intel- 
lect into  all  the  schools  and  colleges  of  the  land. 
There  is  scarcely  a  child  in  America,  twelve  years  old, 
whose  mind  has  not  been  enriched  by  his  speeches 
and  orations.  Those  chaste  and  massive  sentences, 
those  simple  and  resistless  arguments,  those  bold  and 
brilliant  flashes  of  imagination,  those  notes  of  thun- 
dering, subduing,  awful  eloquence,  those  impassioned 
appeals  to  patriotism,  have  found  their  way  to  every 
school-boy's  heart,  and  have  begun  to  mould  the  men- 
tal character  of  the  rising  race. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF   THE   BOSTON    SCHOOL    COMMITTEE.     147 

Hence  the  enthusiasm  which  all  our  youth  feel  in 
regard  to  Daniel  Webster.  They  know  little,  and 
care  less,  for  party  politics.  They  have  not  yet  en- 
tered the  arena  of  political  strife;  but  they  have 
caught  the  fire  of  that  mighty  spirit's  eloquence,  they 
feel  the  benign  influence  of  a  lofty  mind  working  upon 
theirs;  and  the  same  magic  impulse  which  prompts 
them  to  rise  higher  in  mental  excellence,  prompts 
them  to  do  honor  to  their  great  master. 

Their  minds  have  become  so  much  moulded  and  in- 
spired by  his,  that  they  instinctively  love  and  honor 
him.  His  speeches  are  destined  to  do  more,  in  my 
opinion,  to  promote  the  great  objects  of  education,  to 
form  correct  habits  of  thinking  and  speaking,  and  to 
put  the  rising  American  race  in  possession  of  a  chas- 
tened, eloquent,  powerful  literature,  than  any  other 
instrumentality  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

But,  sir,  I  did  not  intend  to  say  so  much.  My 
only  apology  is,  that  I  could  not  say  less.  While 
we  pause  to  meditate  upon  our  irreparable  loss,  let  us 
not  forget  that  we  have  other  and  higher  duties,  and 
duties  which  time  will  not  wait  for  us  to  perform. 

Omnes  eodem  cogimur;  omnium 
Versatur  urna,  serius  ocyus 
Sors  exitura,  et  nos  seternum 
Exilium  impositura  cymbae. 

No,  sir;  it  is  not  to  eternal  exile,  as  the  heathen 
poet  says,  that  we  are  destined.  If  faithful  to  those 
higher  duties,  we  may  look,  in  the  light  of  Christian 
faith,  to  that  same  celestial  home  of  eternal  friend- 
ship and  glory,  into  which  our  illustrious  friend  has 
entered  before  us.  The  dying  scene  of  that  immortal 


148  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

man!  Who  of  us  does  not  wish  that  his  last  end 
may  be  like  his  ?  Socrates  died  like  a  philosopher ; 
Webster,  like  a  Christian.  His  death  was  the  crown- 
ing glory  of  a  glorious  life.  He  wanted  no  Charon's 
boat  to  float  him  over  the  dark  wave  to  the  land  of 
eternal  exile ;  —  a  convoy  of  shining  angels  were  in 
attendance ;  and  as  his  calm,  piercing  gaze  shot  up 
the  long  bright  track  in  which  they  were  to  conduct 
him,  he  exclaimed,  amid  his  last  distinct  utterances 
on  earth :  — "  This  day  I  shall  be  in  life,  in  ylory,  in 
blessedness"  Let  us,  then,  with  such  examples  before 
us,  gird  up  our  minds  to  duty,  and  be  faithful  to  our 
high  mission. 

Mr.  STEVENSON  addressed  the  Board  as  follows : 
I  concur  with  the  gentleman  who  has  just   spoken, 
as  to  the  propriety  of  the   action  which  is   proposed, 
and   do   not   doubt  that   every  member  of  the   Board 
will  concur  with  him. 

We  are  members  of  a  sorrow-stricken  community. 
It  is  no  ordinary  public  grief  which  has  so  taken 
possession  of  the  minds  of  men;  but  each  feels  as  he 
would  feel  if  a  valuable  member  of  his  own  household 
had  been  taken  away  from  his  sight  forever.  The 
very  depths  of  feeling  have  been  sounded.  Ever  since 
the  event  which  we  mourn,  a  political  Sabbath  has 
prevailed.  The  all-pervading  feeling  is  taking  every 
proper  form  of  expression.  Perhaps  no  more  impres- 
sive scene  was  ever  witnessed  than  that  which  exhi- 
bited itself  in  Faneuil  Hall  on  Wednesday  last.  Grief 
had  called  together  a  multitude  of  men.  The  first 
time  that  that  hall  had  ever  been  shrouded  in  the 


PROCEEDINGS    OF   THE   BOSTON   SCHOOL   COMMITTEE.     149 

drapery  of  mourning,  he  himself  had  stood  there  to 
speak  of  those  over  whom  had  passed  that  mysterious 
change  which  separates  the  mortal  from  the  immortal ; 
and  then  the  fact  that  all  that  was  mortal  of  himself 
was  at  rest,  while  his  majestic  spirit  was  in  the  pre- 
sence of  Almighty  God,  had  filled  the  same  place. 

The  beautiful  eloquence  of  gifted  orators  could 
move  that  audience  only  to  tears;  and  thousands  of 
strong  men  stood  there  and  wept. 

The  echoes  of  the  temple,  which  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  be  awakened  into  a  tumult  at  the  bare 
whisper  of  his  name,  slept  in  the  silence  of  sadness. 
It  could  not  but  be  so.  For  all  realized  what  a  voice 
was  left  when  his  place  on  earth  was  unoccupied,  and 
all  knew  that,  in  many  respects,  that  place  must  re- 
main unoccupied. 

For  how  true  it  is,  that  there  is  not  with  us,  or  of 
us,  any  other  man,  for  whose  judgment  all  —  all  can 
look,  as  they  have  been  accustomed  to  look  for  his, 
whenever  there  has  presented  itself  any  new  question 
affecting  the  interests,  or  the  honor,  or  the  peace,  or 
the  progress  of  this  great  nation.  Whether  we  had 
realized  it  before  or  not,  we  now  felt  how  we  had 
looked  for  and  waited  for  that  judgment. 

Now,  when  we  need  his  counsels,  as  we  shall,  they 
will  no  longer  be  given  to  us  in  the  living  words, 
that  have  burnt  their  influences  into  our  very  convic- 
tions, but  we  must  look  for  them  in  the  storehouses 
of  our  memories,  and  in  the  recorded  pages  of  his 
wisdom.  He  has  gone  from  the  midst  of  us,  but  not 
without  having  performed  the  full  mission  of  a  man. 

The  teacher  rests  from  his   labors.      The    results  of 


150  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

those  labors  are  an  invaluable  legacy  to  each  of  us. 
How  true  it  is  that  he  who  would  comprehend  the 
philosophy  of,  or  even  appreciate  the  full  value  of, 
the  institutions  under  which  this  people  have  been 
trying  the  experiment  of  self-government,  must  read 
and  study  his  expositions  of  them,  or  the  lesson  will 
not  be  learned.  Read  his  works,  and  feel  what  a 
blessing  civil  and  religious  liberty  is.  Read  them, 
and  feel  what  a  blessing  it  is  to  live  under  a  govern- 
ment of  laws  rather  than  under  a  government  of  men. 
Read  them;  and  if,  which  God  forbid,  the  obligations 
of  the  Constitution  of  your  country  hang  loosely  on 
you,  rivet  them  with  his  thoughts. 

The  form  which  we  loved  to  meet  has  gone  from, 
us  forever.  Gratitude  will  provide  a  monument.  It 
will  not  be  so  imperishable  as  his  thoughts;  it  will 
not  be  so  enduring  as  the  lessons  he  has  taught;  but 
it  will  be  a  shrine,  before  which  we  and  our  children, 
and  our  children's  children  may  bow,  as  -  before  an 
altar,  to  civil  and  religious  freedom. 

May  we  profit  by  the  example  which  he  has  left 
to  us,  of  a  firm  faith,  a  deep  devotion,  an  unfaltering 
trust,  a  pure  love  towards  the  Father  of  his  spirit. 
We  will  make  an  application,  other  than  that  which 
he  probably  intended,  still  a  truthful  one,  of  the  last 
words  which  fell  from  his  mortal  lips,  so  soon  to  be 
sealed  by  the  angel,  —  "I  still  live."  That  assurance 
was  not  obliterated  when  that  seal  was  fixed.  His 
spirit  is  God's.  His  fame  is  ours.  His  works  will 
praise  him;  our  words  cannot. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF   THE   BOSTON   SCHOOL    COMMITTEE.     151 

Mr.  DERBY  followed,  and  said: 

Mr.  President  —  I  rise  to  sustain  these  resolutions. 
I  cannot  hope  to  add  force  to  what  has  been  so  elo- 
quently said  by  the  gentleman  who  preceded  me,  but 
a  high  functionary  of  the  Union  has  died  —  the  most 
distinguished  citizen  of  our  State  has  breathed  his 
last  —  our  City  Councils  have  given  public  expression 
to  their  griefs,  and  I  feel  it  to  be  our  duty  to  pass 
these  resolutions  and  adjourn. 

It  has  been  my  privilege  to  know  Mr.  Webster 
from  childhood.  I  knew  him  when  at  school  in  New 
Hampshire.  I  subsequently  studied  three  years  in 
his  office,  and  I  have  cherished  his  acquaintance  until 
his  death.  I  can  bear  testimony  to  the  giant  grasp 
of  his  intellect,  for  I  have  often  witnessed  its  exer- 
tion. I  can  speak  of  his  herculean  powers,  not  from 
report  alone,  but  from  personal  experience,  for  I  have 
lived  to  meet  him  in  the  forum,  and  have  four  times 
felt  the  weight  and  almost  resistless  powers  of  his  ar- 
guments. Let  me  add  my  humble  testimony  to  the 
colossal  greatness  of  his  intellect. 

There  are,  however,  traits  of  character  deeply  im- 
pressed on  my  memory,  for  which  I  reverence  him  as 
much  as  for  his  intellect.  Amid  the  strife  of  the  fo- 
rum he  preserved  the  freshness  of  his  feelings  and 
reflections.  Some  men,  in  their  devotion  to  one  great 
idea,  become  callous  to  those  affections,  but  it  was 
not  so  with  Mr.  Webster.  I  can  remember  well  the 
loss  of  his  partner,  Mr.  Bliss.  He  died  in  the  prime 
of  life,  and  in  the  flush  of  success.  I  recall  the 
intense  solicitude  of  Mr.  Webster;  how  he  paced  his 
office  all  day  in  silence,  absorbed  in  grief,  while  we 


152  WEBSTER    MEMORIAL. 

looked  for  the  melancholy  event.  Nor  shall  I  ever 
forget  his  devotion  to  his  first  wife,  when  arrested  by 
sickness  at  New  York.  Mr.  Webster  had  achieved  a 
name  in  the  Supreme  Court.  He  was  retained  in 
nearly  all  the  important  cases  at  Washington.  The 
Court  was  about  to  open,  fortune  and  honor  were  be- 
fore him.  He  gave  up  his  retainers,  he  sacrificed  his 
prospects  for  years.  Wealth  and  advancement  had  no 
attractions  to  draw  him  from  the  couch  of  his  wife ; 
he  lingered  there  for  months  to  receive  the  last  sigh 
of  the  partner  of  his  bosom. 

We  meet  in  this  hall,  however,  as  the  guardians  of 
education;  let  us  cherish  the  remembrance  that  he 
has,  in  his  addresses,  rendered  service  to  the  cause. 
He  has  ever  pointed  to  the  school-house  as  the  ark 
of  our  safety.  His  giant  efforts  are  embalmed  in  our 
school-books,  enshrined  with  the  speeches  of  Demos- 
thenes and  Cicero,  Burke,  Sheridan,  and  Chatham,  to 
animate  and  inspire  the  youth  of  our  country. 

He  was  himself  a  bright  exemplar  of  the  power  of 
education.  Let  us  trace  him  from  his  humble  home 
in  the  wilds  of  New  Hampshire ;  let  us  imagine  him 
standing  beside  his  father,  and  recall  his  interview  in 
the  field,  with  a  member  of  Congress,  and  the  words 
of  that  noble  father  when  he  said,  "  that  man  is  in 
Congress  because  he  had  an  education,  and  I  might 
have  filled  his  place  could  I  have  had  the  benefit  of  a 
school.  You  shall  be  educated."  Let  us  follow  him 
from  the  labors  of  the  farm  and  the  menial  offices  of 
the  inn,  to  the  humble  school  of  Master  Tappan,  to 
the  fireside  of  the  village  clergyman,  to  Exeter  and 
to  Dartmouth.  Let  us  observe  him  enter  the  bleak 


PROCEEDINGS    OF   THE   BOSTON    SCHOOL    COMMITTEE.     153 

school-house,  through  the  snow  of  a  New  Hampshire 
winter,  with  his  breath  freezing  upon  his  collar,  to 
aid  the  humble  means  of  his  parent  by  his  ill-paid 
labors  as  a  teacher.  Let  us  follow  him  to  the  Aca- 
demy, where  he  teaches  by  day  and  copies  deeds  by 
night,  while  he  educates  his  brother,  and  strives  to 

O  7  / 

study  his  profession.  Let  us  view  him  in  the  Short 
Street  School,  rousing  the  genius  of  Everett.  Let  us 
accompany  him  to  the  triumphs  of  the  Bar  and  the 
Senate,  until  we  leave  him  Secretary  of  State.  Edu- 
cation has  lifted  him  from  the  dust ;  from  turning  the 
sods  of  the  valley,  to  guide  the  destinies  of  nations,  to 
exert  a  mighty  influence  over  the  civilized  world.  Is 
not  his  whole  career  illustrative  of  the  power  of  edu- 
cation? Is  it  not  a  noble  incentive  to  the  master  in 
his  humble  toils,  to  the  ambitious  youth  struggling 
with  adversity  ?  And  does  it  not  attest  the  importance 
of  that  system  of  schools  which  we  meet  here  to  pro- 
mote, a  system  so  rapidly  diffusing  itself  over  the 
Union?  Should  every  million  we  invest,  produce  but 
one  Webster,  would  it  not  be  well  invested? 

The  old  ballad  of  Chevy  Chase  recites  that,  when 
the  King  of  Scotland  was  told  of  the  death  of  Doug- 
las, he  replied  that  he  had  no  warriors  left  like  him; 
although  the  King  of  England,  when  mourning  for  his 
Percy's  death,  could  replace  him  with  fifty  more. 
Like  Scotland's  King,  we  mourn  our  Douglas  dead ; 
more  than  England's  King,  we  now  mourn  our  match- 
less Percy;  but  the  system  of  education  which  has 
given  us  one  Webster,  will  eventually  give  us  more. 
There  is  a  wide  domain  of  talent  to  be  cultivated; 
rich  material  is  in  store  for  us.  It  shall  not  be 
wasted.  20 


154  WEBSTER    MEMORIAL. 

Through  the  dim  vista  of  the  future,  I  see,  under 
the  electric  power  of  education,  other  Websters  rise 
from  their  obscurity  to  guide  the  councils,  and  mould 
the  destinies  of  our  nation. 

Full  many  a  gem  of  purest  ray  serene, 
The  dark  unfathomed  caves  of  ocean  bear. 

The  cavern  must  be  explored.  The  precious  stones 
must  be  extracted  and  sent  forth,  radiant  and  spark- 
ling, to  adorn  the  high  places  of  the  nation.  In  honor- 
ing Webster,  we  show  our  respect  for  education.  We 
do  but  participate  also  in  the  grief  of  a  nation.  The 
solemn  bell  has  tolled  his  requiem  from  spire  to  spire, 
city  to  city,  until  its  murmurs  are  lost  in  the  surges 
of  the  Pacific. 

His  loss  has  been  deplored  by  eloquent  voices  still 
ringing  from  thousands  of  pulpits. 

The  thunder  of  cannon  has  proclaimed  the  nation's 
grief  from  shore  to  shore,  fit  memento  of  him  whose 
lightning  has  flashed  in  the  Senate  Chamber,  and 
whose  thunder  has  rolled  in  the  Forum. 

Even  nature,  in  her  sombre  aspect,  seems  to  mourn 
his  loss.  The  groves  of  Franklin  and  of  Marshfield 
sigh  at  his  departure ;  and  may  we  not  apply  to  the 
orator  and  lover  of  nature,  as  well  as  to  the  poet> 
those  beautiful  lines  of  Scott  — 

Call  it  not  vain,  they  do  not  err, 

Who  say,  that  when  the  Poet  dies, 
Mute  Nature  mourns  her  worshipper, 

And  celebrates  his  obsequies ; 
Who  say  tall  cliff,  and  cavern  lone, 
For  the  departed  Bard  make  moan ; 
That  mountains  weep  in  crystal  rill ; 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE    BOSTON   SCHOOL    COMMITTEE.    155 

That  flowers  in  tears  of  balm  distil ; 
Through  his  loved  groves,  that  breezes  sigh, 
And  oaks,  in  deeper  groan,  reply; 
And  Ocean  tells  its  rushing  wave 
To  murmur  dirges  round  his  grave. 

The  resolutions  were  passed  by  a  unanimous  vote. 


PROCEEDINGS  AND  RESOLUTIONS 


OF 


VARIOUS  ASSOCIATIONS. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE    WEBSTER 
EXECUTIVE    COMMITTEE. 


A  MEETING  of  the  Webster  Executive  Committee 
was  held  on  Monday  evening,  October  25,  General  J. 
S.  Tyler  in  the  chair.  Some  discussion  was  had  as 
to  the  course  of  duty  devolved  upon  the  Club  by 
the  death  of  Mr.  Webster,  and  a  committee  of  seven 
persons  was  raised  to  consider  the  subject  and  report 
resolutions. 

At  an  adjourned  meeting  on  Tuesday  evening,  Oc- 
tober 26,  Mr.  WINSLOW,  from  the  Committee  of  seven 
appointed  on  Monday  evening,  submitted  the  follow- 
ing resolutions : 

Resolved,  That  while  overwhelmed  with  grief  by  the  death  of 
our  illustrious  statesman  and  patriot,  we  would  yet  bow  submis- 
sively to  the  will  of  Him  who  does  all  things  well. 

Resolved,  That  our  sorrow  is  mingled  with  deep  and  earnest 
gratitude  that  Daniel  Webster  was  given  to  this  nation,  and  that 
his  life  and  teachings  have  impressed  upon  it  lessons  of  lofty  wis- 
dom and  patriotism,  which  will  not  be  forgotten. 

Resolved,  That  as  his  bereaved  companion  and  other  family  re- 
latives mourn  not  alone,  but  the  whole  nation  mourns  with  them, 
it  is  our  fervent  prayer  that  they  may  ever  receive  the  sustaining 


160  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

sympathies  and  benedictions  of  all  the  people  of  the  land,  as  the 
only  return  which  can  now  be  offered  for  a  debt  of  gratitude  that 
can  never  be  paid. 

Resolved,  That  as  a  mark  of  respect  for  the  great  man,  whose 
death  we  mourn,  this  convention  recommend  to  the  friends  of  the 
deceased  to  wear  a  badge  of  crape  on  the  left  arm  for  thirty  days. 

Resolved,  That  as  some  special  tribute  is  due  from  us  to  those 
great  national  principles  maintained  and  defended  by  Mr.  Webster 
while  he  lived,  and  dear  to  him  in  death,  in  addition  to  uniting 
most  cordially  in  all  the  civic  honors  paid  to  him,  we  will  also 
unite  in  a  celebration  that  shall  distinctly  recognize  and  set  forth 
those  principles,  in  an  eulogy  to  be  delivered  by  an  orator  of  our 
own  selection,  and  that  we  invite  our  friends  in  all  parts  of  the 
Commonwealth  to  join  with  us  in  said  celebration. 

Resolved,  That  be  a  committee  to  make  all  necessary 

arrangements  to  carry  the  above  resolutions  into  effect ;  to  select 
the  orator,  appoint  the  time  and  place,  and  report  to  the  Execu- 
tive Committee  at  an  early  day. 

The  resolutions  were  adopted,  and  Messrs.  C.  A. 
White,  C.  Torrey,  and  T.  Wiley  were  appointed  as 
the  Committee  called  for  in  the  last  resolve. 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  WHIG  WARD   AND 
COUNTY   CONVENTION. 


A  MEETING  of  the  Whig  Ward  and  County  Conven- 
tion was  held  on  the  evening  of  October  29,  and  a 
series  of  appropriate  resolutions  were  adopted.  FARN- 
IIAM  PLUMMER,  Esq.,  in  introducing  the  resolutions, 
spoke  as  follows : 

Some  five  days  have  elapsed  since  those  startling 
minute-guns,  booming  forth  upon  a  bright  and  calm 
Sabbath  morning,  announced  to  the  citizens  of  Bos- 
ton and  its  vicinity  the  painful  fact  that  the  great 
heart  of  that  eminent  statesman  and  illustrious  fel- 
low-citizen, Daniel  Webster,  had  forever  ceased  its 
pulsations.  The  interval  has  been  occupied  by  the 
readiest  writers  and  the  ablest  speakers,  and  our  lan- 
guage has  been  found  inadequate  to  express  the  deep 
feeling  and  emotion  which  are  felt  not  only  by  the 
people  of  Boston,  but  also  by  the  whole  nation.  The 
Committee  have,  therefore,  approached  the  subject  with 
great  diffidence.  They  have  embodied  a  few  facts  in 
simple  words,  and  have  only  to  add  a  hope  that  they 
may  be  unanimously  adopted. 
21 


162  WEBSTER  MEMORIAL. 

Resolved,  That  this  Convention  has  heard  with  deep  and  poig- 
nant grief  of  the  decease  of  our  illustrious  fellow-citizen,  the  Honor- 
able Daniel  Webster,  and  that,  remembering  his  services  as  Repre- 
sentative of  this  city  in  Congress  —  as  a  Senator  of  our  beloved 
Commonwealth  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  and  as  on  two 
occasions  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States  —  we  feel  the 
truth  so  beautifully  expressed  by  President  Fillmore,  that  his 
fame  belongs  to  America,  and  the  admiration  of  it  to  all  man- 
kind. 

Resolved,  That  as  members  of  the  Whig  party,  —  of  which  he 
was  through  life  the  ablest  representative,  and  in  the  advance- 
ment of  whose  doctrines  and  policy  he  made  some  of  his  noblest 
efforts, —  we  feel  the  irreparable  loss  our  country  has  sustained;  — 
but  that,  above  and  beyond  all  party  considerations,  as  American 
citizens,  as  constituent  parts  of  this  great  and  glorious  Union,  we 
recall  with  pride  his  patriotism,  bounded  by  no  State  lines,  know- 
ing no  North,  no  South,  no  East,  no  West;  —  his  care,  his  solicitude, 
and  his  unremitting  labor  for  the  perpetuation  and  aggrandizement 
of  our  common  country,  and  for  the  preservation  of  that  Consti- 
tution under  whose  blessings,  by  the  aid  of  a  kind  Providence, 
we  hope  ourselves  and  our  posterity  may  live  —  a  great,  a  happy, 
and  above  all  a  united  people. 

Resolved,  That  while  his  long  and  varied  life  has  been  but  one 
series  of  victories  achieved  and  triumphs  gained  for  his  State, 
his  Country,  and  for  Constitutional  Liberty  everywhere,  we  can 
but  feel,  as  friends  of  the  Christian  Religion,  that  nothing  was 
wanting  to  the  perfection  of  such  a  life,  but  such  an  ending  of 
it;  and  that  the  brilliancy  of  his  career  is  and  could  be  equalled 
only  by  the  splendor  and  beauty  of  its  close. 

Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions,  signed  by  the  Pre- 
sident and  Secretary  of  this  Convention,  be  transmitted  to  the 
family  of  Mr.  Webster,  in  token  of  our  respect  for  his  name,  and 
of  our  condolence  in  this  season  of  their  affliction. 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  GRANITE  CLUB,  NO.  1. 


ON  Monday  evening,  October  25,  a  special  meeting 
of  the  Granite  club,  No.  1,  was  held.  The  attendance 
was  very  large.  Vice-President  ORCUTT,  of  Chelsea, 
presided.  The  meeting  was  called  for  the  purpose  of 
making  some  demonstration  of  respect  to  the  memory 
of  Daniel  Webster.  Hon.  AARON  HOBART,  in  a  few 
able  and  appropriate  remarks,  offered  the  following 
resolutions : 

Resolved,  That  there  are  occasions,  when,  without  surrendering 
principles  or  intermitting  duties,  it  is  becoming,  even  in  the  midst 
of  a  great  canvass  for  political  power  in  the  nation,  to  forget  that 
we  are  partisans,  and  remember  only  that  all  are  citizens  of  one 
common  country. 

Resolved,  That  on  no  occasion  has  this  reflection  become  so 
impressive  as  by  the  death  of  Daniel  Webster;  of  whom  it  can 
be  said  with  emphatic  truth,  that  if  he  belonged  to  any  party  or 
to  any  part  of  the  Union,  while  living,  his  memory  and  his  his- 
tory belong  to  his  country,  to  the  whole  Union,  and  to  the  world. 

Resolved,  That  the  democratic  party,  forgetting  wherein  they 
differed,  will  ever  hold  in  grateful  remembrance  that  great  qual- 
ity of  the  great  mind  of  Daniel  Webster,  which  led  him,  in 
almost  every  national  crisis,  to  adhere  to  the  Union  with  a  patri- 
otism that  could  not  be  bounded  by  party  limits,  and  with  a 
devotion  to  that  Union  equalled  only  by  the  eloquence  with  which 
he  enforced  its  binding  obligations  upon  all  sections  of  the  coun- 


164  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

try ;  that  they  will  look  for  no  spots  on  the  sun  of  his  glorious 
fame,  while  they  can  see  shining  there  to  light  posterity  his 
manly  vindication  of  popular  government  and  independence  in 
Greece,  South  America,  and  Hungary,  against  the  dogmas  of  the 
"Holy  Allies"  and  despots  of  Europe,  his  early  development  of 
the  great  democratic  principles  of  free  trade  and  solid  currency, 
and  his  noble  championship  of  the  Constitution  in  1830  and  1850, 
for  the  supremacy  of  the  laws  and  the  integrity  of  the  Union. 

Resolved,  That  in  the  great  lights  in  which  he  will  be  viewed 
hereafter,  he  will  be  regarded  by  all  men,  who  honor  genius  and 
intellect,  and  noble  thoughts  and  manly  acts,  as  a  splendid  model 
of  the  character  developed  under  our  Republican  institutions,  and 
an  illustrious  instance  of  the  power  of  character  thus  developed, 
to  defend  that  Union  upon  which  depend  all  Republican  insti- 
tutions on  this  Continent,  and  all  hope  of  their  organization  in 
any  other  portion  of  the  globe. 

Resolved,  That  the  last  words  of  the  dying  statesman,  "  I still 
live"  spoke  not  only  of  that  immortality  beyond  earth,  in  which 
he  held  a  confiding  faith,  but  will  forever  be  true  and  full  of 
meaning  among  men ;  for  while  the  Union  lives,  it  will  be  said 
of  him,  as  he  himself  said  of  the  illustrious  dead,  JEFFERSON 
and  ADAMS,  when  pronouncing  their  eulogy  in  Faneuil  Hall, 
"His  body  is  buried  in  peace,  but  his  name  liveth  evermore." 

Resolved,  That  it  is  honorable  to  human  nature  to  find,  on  occa- 
sions of  the  decease  of  eminent  statesmen,  the  concurrence  of  all 
political  parties  in  doing  honor  to  their  memories ;  and  in  this 
spirit,  and  with  full  hearts,  we  lay  our  offerings  of  profound  grief, 
respect,  and  admiration  upon  the  tomb  of  Daniel  "Webster;  re- 
joicing, nevertheless,  that  in  answer  to  his  own  fervent  prayer 
of  patriotic  devotion,  when  death  did  come,  God  has  granted, 
"  that  when  his  eyes  were  turned  to  behold  for  the  last  time  the 
sun  in  heaven,  they  saw  him  shining  (and  with  well  founded 
faith  that  he  would  so  shine  for  all  generations  to  come),  on  our 
glorious  Union,  with  the  gorgeous  ensign  of  the  Republic,  now 
known  and  honored  throughout  the  earth,  still  full  high,  advanced 
and  advancing,  not  a  single  star  obscured,  not  a  single  stripe  erased, 
and  still  bearing  for  its  motto,  everywhere  spread  all  over,  in 
characters  of  living  light,  blazing  on  all  its  ample  folds,  as  they 


PROCEEDINGS    OP    GRANITE    CLUB,   NO.    1.  165 

float  over  the  sea  and  over  the  land,  and  in  every  wind  under 
the  heavens,  that  sentiment,  dear  to  every  true  American,  "  LI- 
BERTY AND  UNION,  NOW  AND  FOREVER,  ONE  AND  INSEPARA- 
BLE." 

J.  HARDY  PRINCE,  Esq.,  paid  a  most  glowing  tribute 
to  the  memory  of  Mr.  Webster,  in  a  speech  of  great 
ability  and  eloquence,  followed  by  J.  HARRIS  SMITH, 
Esq.,  who  advocated  the  passage  of  the  resolutions. 
The  question  upon  the  resolutions  was  then  taken, 
and  they  passed  unanimously. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE    WEBSTER 
UNDER-VOTERS. 


THE  Webster  Under-Voters  of  this  city  met  on 
Tuesday  evening,  October  26,  to  take  suitable  mea- 
sures for  a  tribute  to  the  memory  of  Daniel  Webster. 
ARTHUR  J.  G.  SOWDON  presided.  The  meeting  was 
very  large,  and  the  proceedings  were  characterized 
by  that  order  and  propriety  so  befitting  the  occa- 
sion, the  place,  and  the  young  gentlemen  themselves. 

The  following  resolutions  were  offered  by  Mr. 
EAYRES,  and  unanimously  adopted : 

Whereas,  Through  the  dispensation  of  an  all-wise  Providence, 
we  have  been  called  upon  to  mourn  the  loss  of  that  great  states- 
man, patriot,  and  Christian,  Daniel  Webster,  who  has  ever  been  to 
us  from  our  earliest  childhood  the  synonyme  of  all  that  is  great 
and  good  in  man  —  around  whom  we  have  so  often  delighted  to 
gather  as  around  a  kind  of  parent  to  catch  the  words  of  wisdom 
and  instruction  which  fell  from  his  lips ;  whose  strains  of  magic 
eloquence  are  to  us  as  household  words ;  whose  lofty  sentiments  of 
patriotism  have  sunk  so  deep  into  our  hearts  that  time  can  never 
erase  them; — therefore, 

Resolved,  That  in  the  intense  grief  and  heartfelt  sorrow  which 
now  pervade  the  country  at  the  death  of  Daniel  Webster,  the 
Young  Men  of  Boston  would  mingle  their  tears  and  join  their  sor- 


168  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

rows,  feeling  that  the  loss  -which  they  have  sustained  is  only  ex- 
ceeded by  that  \vhich  their  country  is  compelled  to  mourn. 

Resolved,  That  by  the  death  of  Daniel  Webster,  the  brightest 
star  in  the  glorious  constellation  of  master  spirits  which  has  so  long 
lighted  up  the  pathway  of  human  liberty  through  the  world,  has 
set  forever;  and  the  young  men  of  Boston,  living  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  Bunker  Hill,  Lexington,  and  Plymouth  —  breathing  in 
the  spirit  of  patriotism  with  the  very  breath  we  draw ;  cannot  but  feel 
the  most  poignant  grief  at  the  irreparable  loss  which  their  country, 
the  cause  of  liberty  and  republican  institutions,  have  sustained. 

Resolved,  That  we  deeply  sympathize  with  the  family  and  friends 
of  the  illustrious  deceased,  in  this  their  afflicting  bereavement,  and 
would  assure  them  that  the  young  men  of  Boston  will  ever  entertain 
the  liveliest  emotions  of  gratitude  for  the  services  of  him  who  was 
the  defender  of  the  Constitution  and  the  preserver  of  our  liberties. 

Resolved,  That  in  consideration  of  the  great  loss  which  has 
fallen  upon  the  world  at  large,  our  country,  and  ourselves  individu- 
ally, the  members  of  this  Club  will  wear  the  usual  badge  of 
mourning  on  the  left  arm  for  a  period  of  thirty  days. 

Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  seven  be  appointed,  to  consti- 
tute with  the  government  of  the  Club  a  Committee  of  Arrange- 
ments, to  take  such  further  measures  as  they  may  deem  proper,  to 
give  expression  to  the  sad  feelings  of  this  Club. 

Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  be  transmitted  to  Mrs. 
Webster. 

Addresses  were  made  by  Messrs.  SOWDON,  BATES, 
and  EAYRES. 


MEETING   OF   THE   BOSTON  MERCHANTS. 


THE  Merchants  of  Boston  met  on  Monday  afternoon, 
October  25,  at  the  Merchants'  Exchange  Reading 
Room,  to  take  such  measures  as  might  be  deemed 
appropriate,  in  view  of  the  death  of  Daniel  Webster, 
whose  life  was  one  long  devotion  to  the  mercantile 
interests  of  Boston. 

The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  GEORGE  B.  UP- 
TON, Esq.,  and  organized  by  the  choice  of  Hon.  WIL- 
LIAM APPLETON,  as  President,  who,  on  taking  the  chair, 
made  a  few  touching  and  eloquent  remarks  upon  the 
life,  services,  and  death  of  Mr.  Webster. 

J.  THOMAS  STEVENSON,  Esq.,  then  proceeded  to  ad- 
dress the  meeting  as  follows: 

Gentlemen  —  The  occasion  of  this  meeting  is  elo- 
quently told  in  the  silent  countenances  of  those  who 
compose  it,  and  calls  for  no  louder  utterance.  Cer- 
tainly no  hurried  words  could  either  add  to,  or  sub- 
due the  universal  sorrow,  whose  shadows  are  resting 
upon  the  hearts  of  those  who  realize  that  the  event 
of  yesterday  has  removed  from  them  a  friend,  a 
counsellor,  a  guide,  a  benefactor,  a  patriot. 

I   am   requested   to   say   to   you,   that   the  purpose 


22 


170  WEBSTER    MEMORIAL. 

for  which  we  have  been  called  together,  is  the  ap- 
pointment of  a  committee  with  power  to  arrange  for 
such  testimonial  on  the  part  of  the  merchants  of  Bos- 
ton as  that  event  prompts. 

Mr.  Stevenson  offered  the  following  resolution : 

Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  seven  be  appointed  by  the  Chair, 
to  confer  with  any  other  committees  that  may  be  chosen  by  other 
bodies  of  our  citizens,  on  the  subject  of  a  testimonial  to  the  ser- 
vices of  Daniel  Webster. 

The  Chair  appointed  the  following  gentlemen  as  the 
Committee,  viz. :  —  Messrs.  Nathan  Appleton,  John  T. 
Heard,  Thomas  B.  Curtis,  James  K.  Mills,  A.  W.  Thax- 
ter,  Jr.,  Enoch  Train,  Levi  Dowley,  Thomas  Gray. 

The  meeting  was  then  dissolved. 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  BROKERS. 


AT  the  regular  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Brokers 
held  on  Monday,  October  25,  the  following  resolu- 
tions were  unanimously  passed  : 

Whereas,  by  the  dispensation  of  Divine  Providence  we  are 
called  to  mourn  the  death  of  our  illustrious  fellow-citizen,  Daniel 
Webster ;  — • 

Resolved,  That  we  lament  the  loss  of  this  great  Statesman  and 
Patriot,  the  intelligence  of  whose  death  has  cast  a  cloud  of  sor- 
row over  the  whole  community. 

Resolved,   As  a  mark  of  respect,  the  Board  do  now  adjourn. 

J.  J.  SOLEY,  Secretary. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE    MERCANTILE 
LIBRARY    ASSOCIATION. 


AT  a  special  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Directors  of 
the  Mercantile  Library  Association  of  Boston,  held  on 
Monday  evening,  October  25,  1852,  the  following  reso- 
lution, submitted  by  Mr.  JAMES  A.  WOOLSON,  was  una- 
nimously adopted  : 

Resolved,  In  consequence  of  the  intelligence  we  have  received 
of  the  death  of  the  Honorable  Daniel  Webster,  Secretary  of  State  of 
the  United  States,  the  President  of  this  Association  be  requested 
to  call  a  special  meeting  of  the  members,  to  take  place  on  Wednes- 
day evening,  the  27th  instant,  that  measures  may  be  taken  to  mani- 
fest our  deep  regret  at  the  loss  the  nation  has  sustained  in  the 
death  of  this  great  American  Statesman. 

A  very  large  meeting  of  the  members  of  this  Asso- 
ciation was  held  in  their  rooms  Wednesday  evening, 
October  27.  Appropriate  remarks  were  made  by 
GEORGE  S.  BLANCHARD,  the  President,  and  speeches 
were  made  by  L.  H.  TASKER,  CHARLES  G.  CHASE,  and 
HENRY  BLANCHARD.  The  following  resolutions,  offered 
by  JOHN  STETSON,  were  unanimously  adopted  : 

Resolved,  That  the  members  of  this  Association  have  heard  with 
deep  grief  the  afflicting  intelligence  of  the  death  of  Mr.  Webster : 


174  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

an  event  which  bereaves  the  country  of  its  ablest  and  most  com- 
prehensive statesman;  the  Bar  of  its  most  distinguished  leader; 
the  great  interests  of  peace,  commerce,  and  union,  of  their  noblest 
champion  —  and  the  whole  nation  of  the  grandest  exemplar  of 
those  free  institutions  to  whose  defence  his  long  and  illustrious  life 
was  devoted. 

Resolved,  That  in  this  event,  we  recognize  the  departure  of  a 
colossal  mind,  whose  faculties,  rare  in  their  separate  excellencies, 
and  rarer  still  in  their  harmonious  combination,  have  stamped  on 
American  history,  legislation,  and  eloquence,  the  massive  impress 
of  their  wisdom  and  power ;  a  mind  which  in  precision,  depth,  fer- 
vor, amplitude,  and  force,  in  closeness  and  clearness  of  statement, 
rigor  of  reasoning,  and  wide-reaching  grasp  of  principles,  and  in  the 
greatness  and  grandeur  of  soul  which  accompanied  its  most  practi- 
cal application  to  affairs,  —  had  no  rival,  and  has  left  no  successor, 
though  "it  still  lives"  in  the  imperishable  records  of  its  ample 
and  majestic  wisdom. 

Resolved,  That  while  the  death  of  such  a  man  is  so  heavy  a 
calamity  to  the  nation  as  to  make  all  public  reference  to  private 
sorrow  almost  out  of  place,  gratitude  compels  us  to  acknowledge 
that  while  we  fully  sympathize  in  the  wide-spread  sense  of  national 
loss,  we  have  also  to  mourn  a  valuable  friend  and  counsellor,  to 
whom  the  Association  is  indebted  for  many  important  favors  and 
benefits. 

Resolved,  That  this  Association  will  unite  in  any  public  solemni- 
ties which  may  take  place  under  the  auspices  of  the  City  Authori- 
ties ;  and  the  Board  of  Directors  be  requested  to  make  all  required 
arrangements  for  that  purpose. 

Subsequently  Mr.  CHARLES  H.  ALLEN  was  elected 
Chief  Marshal  of  the  Association  on  the  occasion  of 
the  Funeral  Solemnities. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF   THE   MECHANIC   APPREN- 
TICES  LIBRARY   ASSOCIATION. 


THE  Mechanic  Apprentices  Library  Association  held 
a  special  meeting  on  Wednesday  evening,  October 
27,  and  the  following  resolutions  were  unanimously 
adopted : 

Resolved,  That  our  country  has  sustained  an  irreparable  loss. 
That,  in  common  with  the  inhabitants  thereof,  we  mingle  our  heart- 
felt tears  of  sympathy  and  consolation  with  his  bereaved  family, 
and  with  the  nation,  with  whose  history  his  life  has  been  so  long 
interwoven. 

Resolved,  That  the  honesty  of  purpose  and  strict  integrity  with 
which  he  has  sustained  himself  as  a  statesman  and  patriot,  and 
the  unwavering  patriotism  which  he  has  ever  manifested  in  the  sup- 
port of  the  Constitution,  will  render  his  name  immortal ;  and  in 
the  hearts  of  the  people  he  will  "still  live,"  after  all  that  is  mortal 
is  no  more,  and  when  the  monuments  which  eulogize  his  memory 
shall  have  crumbled  to  the  dust. 

Resolved,  That  the  event  of  his  death  fills  us  all  with  feelings  of 
unfeigned  sadness ;  and,  as  a  token  of  our  respect  to  his  memory,  we 
clothe  our  rooms  in  the  habiliments  of  mourning,  and  that  a  com- 
mittee of  five  be  appointed  to  carry  the  above  into  effect. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF   MASSACHUSETTS   SOCIETY 
OF  THE   CINCINNATI. 


AT  a  meeting  of  the  Massachusetts  Society  of  the 
Cincinnati,  duly  convened  by  the  President  of  the 
same,  the  Hon.  Robert  G.  Shaw,  in  Boston,  October 
26,  1852,  for  the  purpose  of  taking  measures  to  mani- 
fest a  proper  tribute  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  the 
late  Daniel  Webster,  an  honorary  member  of  said 
society ;  — 

Voted,  That  Eobert  G.  Shaw,  the  Kev.  Mr.  Baury,  and  Adams 
Bailey,  be  a  committee  to  take  into  consideration  what  measures 
should  be  adopted;  and  draft  such  resolutions  of  condolence  with 
the  family  of  the  late  Daniel  Webster  as  shall  be  deemed  most 
proper. 

Voted,  That  the  members  of  this  Society  be  requested  to  wear 
crape  on  the  left  arm  for  thirty  days  as  a  testimonial  of  respect  for 
their  lately  deceased  honorary  member,  Daniel  Webster. 

At  a  subsequent  meeting,  held  November  4th,  the 
foregoing  committee  submitted  the  following  resolu- 
tions which  were  unanimously  adopted : 

When  a  nation  is  in  tears,  mourning  under  the  bereaving  stroke 
of  Divine  Providence,  which  has  taken  from  them,  by  death,  one  of 
the  most  gifted  of  her  sons ;  eminent  for  wisdom,  and  patriotism,  and 
virtue;  —  who,  like  the  Father  of  the  Republic,  knew  no  North, 


178  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

or  South,  East  or  West,  but  devoted  himself  alike,  with  all  the 
powers  and  faculties  of  his  noble  and  expansive  mind,  to  the  pro- 
motion of  his  country's  honor,  and  his  country's  welfare ;  under 
such  a  bereavement,  what  remains,  to  soothe  the  anguish  thus  occa- 
sioned, while  bowing  in  devout  submission  to  the  good  pleasure  of 
him  who  does  not  afflict  willingly  or  grieve  the  children  of  men, 
but  to  muse  on  departed  worth  and  greatness,  whereby  is  elicited 
the  unfeigned  tribute  of  respect  and  veneration  for  his  name,  and 
his  memory.  Therefore 

Resolved,  That  the  members  of  the  Massachusetts  Society  of 
the  Cincinnati,  will  ever  cherish  a  grateful  remembrance  of  the 
invaluable  services  rendered,  through  a  series  of  years,  and  during 
some  of  the  most  critical  periods  of  the  Republic's  history,  by  their 
late  Honorary  member,  Daniel  Webster,  in  the  national  legislature, 
and  more  recently  in  the  cabinet  councils  of  the  General  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States,  contributing,  in  an  eminent  degree,  to 
the  peace  and  safety,  honor  and  prosperity  of  the  nation,  no  less 
than  to  the  preservation  and  permanence  of  the  Union  under  the 
Federal  Constitution. 

Resolved,  That  while  the  members  of  this  Society  mourn,  together 
with  their  fellow-citizens  through  the  length  and  breadth  of  the 
land,  the  impressive  bereavement  which  fills  all  hearts  with  sorrow, 
they  most  gratefully  acknowledge  the  superintending  Providence 
of  God,  in  providing  for  the  American  people  a  succession  of  dis- 
tinguished statesmen  and  ardent  patriots,  who  have  perpetuated  in 
their  purity  and  integrity,  principles  promulgated  by  the  immortal 
Washington,  and  which  the  illustrious  Webster  most  ably  main- 
tained and  eloquently  defended  to  his  last  beating  pulse. 

Resolved,  That  the  members  of  the  Massachusetts  Society  of  the 
Cincinnati,  in  giving  utterance  to  their  sense  of  the  severe  calamity 
with  which  the  United  States  has  been  visited  in  the  removal  of  the 
Honorable  Daniel  Webster  from  the  scenes  of  his  earthly  labors, 
are  not  unmindful  of  the  irreparable  loss  sustained  by  those  who 
were  associated  with  him  in  the  more  intimate  and  endearing 
relations  of  private  life.  Ties,  which  nature  and  affection  unite 
with  such  a  man,  must  touch  every  nerve  of  sorrow,  and  render 
grief  almost  insupportable.  Consolation,  however,  even  under  such 
circumstances,  is  mercifully  extended  to  assuage  the  grief  of  all 


SOCIETY    OF    THE    CINCINNATI.  179 

who  mourn  in  the  consideration  of  the  useful  life  of  the  departed 
statesman,  and  the  calmness  with  which  he  resigned  his  spirit  in 
death  to  the  God  who  gave  it. 

Resolved,  That  the  President  of  the  Massachusetts  Society  of 
the  Cincinnati  be  requested  to  communicate  to  the  family  of  the 
late  Honorable  Daniel  Webster,  with  every  expression  of  sympathy 
and  condolence,  a  copy  of  the  preceding  preamble  and  resolutions, 
and  that  the  Secretary  cause  the  same  to  be  entered  upon  the  records. 


ORDERS  OF  THE  GOVERNOR  OF  MASSA- 
CHUSETTS. 


HEAD-QUARTERS,         > 
i,  1852.) 


OFFICIAL. 

COMMONWEALTH   OF   MASSACHUSETTS. 

General  Order,  No.  7. 

Boston,  October  28th, 

The  Commander-in-Chief,  having  been  informed  that 
the  illustrous  statesman  and  patriot,  Daniel  Webster, 
Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States,  died  at  his 
residence  in  Marshfield,  on  the  24th  day  of  October 
instant  —  orders,  that  minute-guns  be  fired  at  Head- 
Quarters,  from  12  o'clock  at  noon  to  1  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  of  this  day,  as  an  expression  of  the  public 
sorrow,  and  as  a  testimonial  of  respect  for  the  emi- 
nent services  and  character  of  the  deceased. 

Major-General  B.  F.  Edmands  is  charged  with  the 
execution  of  the  above  order.  The  Acting  Quarter- 
master-General will  furnish  the  necessary  ammunition, 
on  application  of  the  officer  detailed  to  command  the 
detachment. 

By  order  of  his  Excellency, 

GEORGE  S.  BOUT  WELL, 
Governor  and  Commander-in-Chief. 

EBENEZER  "W.  STONE,  Adjutant- General. 


182  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 


COMMONWEALTH    OF   MASSACHUSETTS. 

HEAD-QUARTERS,          ) 
Boston,  October  29th,  1852.  ( 

The  Commander-in-Chief,  as  a  further  mark  of  re- 
spect to  the  memory  of  Daniel  Webster,  orders,  that 
a  Federal  Salute  be  fired  at  Head-Quarters,  at  sun- 
rise, Minute-guns  from  12  M.  to  2  P.  M.,  and  a  National 
Salute  at  sunset,  on  the  29th  instant,  being  the  day 
of  the  funeral  obsequies  at  Marshfield. 

Major-General  B.  F.  Edmands  is  charged  with  the 
execution  of  this  order.  The  Acting  Quartermaster- 
General  will  furnish  the  necessary  ammunition  on 
application  of  the  officer  detailed  to  command  the 
detachment. 

By  command  of  his  Excellency, 

GEORGE  S.  BOUTWELL, 
Governor  and  Commander-in-  Chief. 


io 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  BUNKER  HILL 
MONUMENT  ASSOCIATION. 


AT  a  special  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Directors 
of  the  Bunker  Hill  Monument  Association,  on  Wed- 
nesday, October  27,  the  following  resolutions  were 
passed  : 

Resolved,  That  the  Directors  of  the  Bunker  Hill  Monument 
Association  do  most  severely  sympathize  in  the  general  grief  which 
has  overwhelmed  the  country  in  the  national  loss  which  it  has  so 
unexpectedly  been  called  upon  to  bear ;  by  which  sad  event  one 
of  the  founders  and  projectors  of  the  great  work  of  the  Association 
has  been  removed  from  earth,  the  memory  of  whose  undying  elo- 
quence uttered  before  a  vast  multitude  on  Bunker  Hill  at  the  laying 
of  the  corner  stone  of  the  Monument,  and  also  at  its  completion, 
will  be  forever  identified  with  that  imperishable  memorial  to  the 
cause  of  republican  liberty. 

Resolved,  That  the  eminent  public  services  of  the  illustrious 
deceased,  rendered  throughout  his  whole  life,  constantly,  in  full 
measure  and  with  the  most  cordial  readiness,  at  the  sacrifice  of  his 
personal  interest,  furnish  the  best  example  of  that  high  aim  which 
he  so  eloquently  set  forth  to  his  countrymen ;  for  his  whole  life  was 
to  his  country,  his  whole  country,  and  nothing  but  his  country. 

Resolved,  That  in  respect  to  the  memory  of  Daniel  Webster, 
the  monument  be  dressed  with  appropriate  badges  of  mourning 
for  the  space  of  thirty  days,  and  that  it  be  recommended  to  the 


184  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

officers  and  members  of  the  Association  to  wear  the  usual  badge 
of  mourning  upon  the  left  arm  for  the  same  term. 

Resolved,  That  the  President,  Secretary,  and  Treasurer  of  this 
Association,  with  Hon.  Stephen  Fairbanks,  Hon.  Nathan  Hale, 
Hon.  Albert  Fearing,  Joseph  Tilden,  Esq.,  Henry  Forster,  Esq., 
and  Henry  A.  Pierce,  Esq.,  be  appointed  a  delegation  to  attend 
the  funeral  of  the  deceased  on  Friday  next. 

Resolved,  That  these  resolutions  be  entered  upon  the  record  of 
the  Association ;  that  a  copy  of  them,  signed  by  the  President  and 
Secretary,  be  forwarded  to  the  family  of  the  deceased,  and  that 
they  also  be  published  in  the  journals  of  the  day. 

G.  WASHINGTON  WARREN,  President. 

JOSEPH  H.  BUCKINGHAM,   Secretary. 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  MASSACHUSETTS 
CHARITABLE  MECHANICS'  ASSOCIATION. 


AT  a  special  meeting  of  the  Massachusetts  Charita- 
ble Mechanics'  Association,  held  on  the  evening  of 
October  29,  the  following  gentlemen  were  appointed 
a  Committee  to  report  resolutions  in  relation  to  the 
national  bereavement  which  has  just  fallen  upon  the 
American  people  :  —  Stephen  Fairbanks,  George  Dar- 
racott,  James  Clark,  Henry  N.  Hooper,  John  Rayner, 
Nathaniel  Hammond,  Enoch  Hobart,  Elijah  Mears,  Fre- 
derick W.  Lincoln,  Jr. 

The  Committee  having  retired,  subsequently  re- 
ported the  following  resolutions,  which  were  unani- 
mously adopted  : 

Resolved,  That  this  Association  shares  in  the  general  sensibility 
and  sorrow  pervading  this  community,  at  the  great  national  loss 
which  the  country  has  sustained  in  the  recent  decease  of  its  emi- 
nent Statesman  and  Patriot,  Daniel  Webster. 

Resolved,  That  while  his  departure  from  this  life  casts  a  gloom 
over  the  hearts  of  our  countrymen  in  every  part  of  the  Union, 
as  well  as  upon  the  friends  of  constitutional  liberty  throughout 
the  world,  yet  this  bereavement  has  a  deeper  poignancy  of  grief 
to  us  who  participated  with  him  in  those  closer  local  relations 
24 


186  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

growing  out  of  a  common  citizenship  of  the  same  city  and  Com- 
monwealth, and  has  also  been  enhanced  by  a  still  nearer  bond 
to  us  in  our  associate  capacity ;  as  is  testified  in  the  fact  that 
he  has  been  for  many  years  one  of  our  most  valued  honorary 
members. 

Resolved,  That  in  Mr.  Webster's  life  and  career  we  have  had 
the  most  illustrious  example  of  the  full  development  of  genius 
under  Republican  institutions ;  and  its  influence  in  return,  upon 
thos^e  institutions  themselves,  in  their  more  perfect  adaptation  to 
the  wants  of  the  people  in  accordance  with  the  progressive  spirit 
of  the  age.  His  efforts  in  behalf  of  the  perpetuity  of  the  Con- 
stitution, and  the  sacred  obligations  of  law — his  interest  in  the 
education  of  the  great  mass  of  the  people  —  his  valuable  ser- 
vices in  the  development  of  the  agricultural  and  material  resources 
of  the  country  —  and  his  devotion  to  the  cause  of  manual  labor 
and  domestic  industry  —  all  these,  and  more  of  a  kindred  nature, 
to  the  support  of  which  he  gave  his  matchless  eloquence,  im- 
pregnated with  that  stanch  American  patriotism,  worthy  of  the 
Father  of  the  Republic,  have  established  for  him  a  fame  unsur- 
passed in  the  world,  and  bequeathed  to  his  countrymen  and  pos- 
terity a  personal  example,  and  the  record  of  a  consummate  wis- 
dom, which,  if  heeded,  will  secure  prosperity  to  our  beloved  land, 
as  long  as  it  remains  "  a  power  among  the  nations." 

Resolved,  That  the  government  be  authorized  to  take  such  fur- 
ther measures  in  relation  to  the  illustrious  deceased  as  they  may 
deem  expedient  ;  also,  that  the  foregoing  resolves  be  entered  upon 
our  records,  and  a  copy  of  the  same  be  transmitted  to  Mrs.  Web- 
ster and  her  family. 

After  the  passage  of  the  above  resolutions,  it  was 

Voted,  That  the  Government  be  requested  to  attend  the  funeral. 

JONAS  CHICKERING,  President. 
FREDERICK  H.  STIMSOX,  Secretary. 


PROCEEDINGS   OF  THE   BOSTON    MARINE 
SOCIETY. 


AT  the  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Boston  Marine  So- 
ciety, held  November  3d,  the  following  Resolutions, 
offered  by  THOMAS  B.  CURTIS,  Esq.,  were  unanimously 
adopted : 

Resolved,  That  in  the  death  of  Daniel  Webster,  the  maritime 
interests  of  our  beloved  country  have,  in  common  with  all  other 
interests,  lost  their  ablest  defender.  Witness  his  words  — "  The 
American  Government,  then,  is  prepared  to  say  that  the  practice 
of  impressing  seamen  from  American  vessels  CANNOT  HEREAFTER 
BE  ALLOWED  TO  TAKE  PLACE."  And  witness  the  admission  made 
by  Lord  Ashburton,  then  representing  the  English  Government  — 
"  I  must  admit  that  when  a  British  subject  —  Irish,  English,  or 
Welsh  —  becomes  an  American,  and  claims  no  longer  the  protec- 
tion of  his  own  country,  his  own  country  has  no  right  to  call  him 
a  subject,  and  to  put  him  in  a  position  to  make  war  on  his 
adopted  country"  This  declaration  and  this  admission  entitle 
Daniel  Webster  to  the  gratitude  of  all  who  navigate  the  seas 
under  the  United  States  flag. 

Resolved,  That  this  Society  will  join  in  any  testimonials  of 
respect  which  may  offer  to  the  members  an  opportunity  of  mani- 
festing their  grief,  as  at  the  loss  of  a  father  and  friend. 

Resolved,  That  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  this  Society  be  a 
Committee,  with  full  powers  to  make  such  arrangements  as  may 
best  serve  to  carry  into  effect  the  wishes  of  the  Society,  as  ex- 
pressed in  the  foregoing  resolution. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE    SONS    OF    NEW 
HAMPSHIRE. 


AT  a  meeting  of  the  Sons  of  New  Hampshire,  held 
November  6,  1852,  the  following  Resolutions  were 
unanimously  adopted  : 

Resolved,  That  in  the  death  of  Daniel  Webster  the  State  of 
New  Hampshire  has  lost  the  most  eminent  of  her  Sons,  the  United 
States  their  greatest  Statesman,  and  the  World  one  of  its  most 
distinguished  Jurists. 

Resolved,  That,  while  in  common  with  others,  we  have  vene- 
rated him  for  his  majestic  intellect,  honored  him  for  his  wise 
and  patriotic  counsels  and  great  public  services,  and  share  in  the 
general  grief  which  pervades  the  whole  country  upon  the  occa- 
sion of  this  national  bereavement,  he  has  been  endeared  to  us 
still  more  by  his  private  virtues,  the  kindness  of  his  heart,  and 
the  warmth  of  his  affections. 

Resolved,  That  this  afflictive  dispensation  of  Divine  Providence, 
more  especially  as  it  has  removed  the  officer  appointed  to  pre- 
side at  our  proposed  Festival,  renders  that  Festival  inappropriate 
at  the  present  time,  and  that,  as  a  token  of  respect  to  his  memory, 
it  be  postponed. 

Resolved,  That  we  respectfully  tender  the  expression  of  our 
warmest  sympathies  to  the  family  and  relatives  of  Mr.  Webster, 
and  that  the  Chairman  be  requested  to  transmit  to  them  a  copy 
of  these  resolutions. 

A  copy  of  Record. 

R.  J.  BUKBANK,  Secretary. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE    PRESIDENT  AND 
FELLOWS  OF  HARVARD  COLLEGE. 


AT  a  meeting  of  the  President  and  Fellows  of  Har- 
vard College,  held  in  Boston,  on  Saturday,  October  30, 
1852,  the  following  tribute  to  the  memory  of  Mr. 
Webster  was  read,  and  was  ordered  to  be  entered  on 
the  records,  to  be  published  in  the  newspapers,  and 
communicated  to  the  family  of  the  deceased : 

The  Corporation  of  Harvard  College,  holding  a  stated 
meeting  during  the  week  of  the  death  and  the  burial 
of  Daniel  Webster,  cannot  but  feel  deeply,  and  desire 
earnestly  to  express  their  sense  of  the  loss  of  a  man 
whose  life  was  valuable  in  so  many  of  the  most  im- 
portant spheres  of  human  occupation,  who  was  con- 
nected Avith  the  management  of  Harvard  College  as 
an  Overseer,  for  a  period  of  thirty  years,  and  who  has 
secured  to  all  American  Colleges  the  enjoyment  of  the 
rights  conferred  by  their  charters. 

Leaving  to  others  the  commemoration  of  his  services 
in  public  life,  as  a  statesman  and  a  diplomatist,  and 
in  the  more  private,  but  scarcely  less  important  posi- 


192  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

tion  of  a  jurist,  the  Corporation  deem  it  appropriate 
for  them  to  speak,  with  the  admiring  applause  it  de- 
serves, of  his  character  as  a  scholar,  and  a  man  of 
letters,  a  classic  writer,  and  a  consummate  orator. 
The  discipline  he  imposed  upon  himself,  from  his  earli- 
est youth,  in  the  pursuit  of  knowledge  and  skill  in 
these  departments  of  intellectual  culture,  contending 
with,  and  overcoming  obstacles  thrown  in  his  way  by 
poverty,  obscurity  of  position,  and  some  natural  ten- 
dency to  self-distrust,  may  well  serve  as  an  example, 
and  his  eminent  success  as  an  encouragement,  to  the 
young,  to  lose  no  moment  and  no  opportunity  for  the 
cultivation  of  the  faculties  they  may  possess.  Mr. 
Webster's  wonderful  powers  were  made  available  to 
the  good  of  his  country,  and  of  mankind,  by  his  in- 
dustry and  faithfulness  in  the  use  of  them,  from  the 
earliest  period  at  which  any  thing  is  recorded  of  him 
to  the  latest  hour  of  his  life  ;  and  while  his  talents 
command  admiration,  the  warmer  feelings  of  approba- 
tion and  gratitude  are  excited  by  his  devotion  of 
them  to  the  highest  purposes.  The  noble  example  he 
has  given  of  patriotism,  truth,  and  religious  fidelity  to 
his  convictions,  is  of  immeasurable  value  ;  and  his  me- 
mory will  be  cherished  by  the  multitudes  with  whom 
he  has  been  associated,  and  by  countless  generations, 
who  will  know  him  only  by  the  blessings  they  will 
owe. 

A  true  copy  of  the  record, 

JAMES  WALKER,  Secretary. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE    MASSACHUSETTS 
HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 


NOVEMBER     MEETING,     1852. 

Voted,  That  Messrs.  Robbins,  Appleton,  and  Austin,  be  a  Com- 
mittee to  draft  a  series  of  Resolutions  appropriate  to  the  memory  of 
our  late  deceased  associate,  the  Honorable  Daniel  Webster ;  and  to 
report,  if  any,  and  what  steps  should  be  taken  by  the  Society  in  con- 
consequence  of  his  death. 

Copy  of  record. 

JOSEPH  WILLARD,  Recording  Secretary. 

The  Committee,  appointed  as  above,  reported,  at  the 
regular  meeting  in  December,  the  following  preamble, 
resolution,  and  recommendation,  which  were  unani- 
mously adopted. 

Whereas,  in  the  course  of  Divine  Providence,  the  spirit  of  Daniel 
Webster  has  returned  to  God,  and  the  places  of  public  honor  and 
private  friendship  which  knew  him  on  earth,  shall  know  him  no  more 
forever; — 

Resolved,  That  the  members  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  So- 
ciety, while,  in  common  with  the  whole  American  people,  they  mourn 
his  loss,  as  an  illustrious  statesman,  an  ardent  patriot,  a  wise  coun- 
sellor, an  eloquent  orator,  the  ablest  defender  of  the  Constitution,  and 
a  great  man,  are  desirous,  also,  as  a  Society,  to  express  and  record 

25 


194  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

their  tribute  of  respect  to  the  high  services  and  renowned  name  of 
an  honored  associate,  whose  matchless  powers,  devoted  to  his  country, 
have  performed  such  works  as  enrich  a  nation's  annals,  and  make 
its  history  glorious. 

Your  Committee  would  further  recommend,  that  Mr.  George 
Ticknor  be  appointed  to  prepare  a  memoir  of  Mr.  Webster,  for  the 
Society's  publications. 


PROCEEDINGS  OF   THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY 
OF  ARTS  AND   SCIENCES. 


AT  a  meeting  of  the  Academy  at  their  room  in 
the  Athenaeum  Building,  November  1st,  Professor  FEL- 
TON,  of  Harvard  University,  called  the  attention  of  the 
members  present  to  a  deceased  Fellow,  the  Honorable 
Daniel  Webster,  by  an  address  in  the  following  terms : 

Mr.  President — I  rise  to  suggest  that  the  recent 
death  of  an  illustrious  citizen,  be  suitably  noticed  by 
this  Academy,  of  which  he  was  a  Fellow.  From  every 
quarter  of  the  country  the  voice  of  mourning  and 
lamentation  strikes  upon  the  ear;  on  every  side  the 
emblems  of  grief  meet  the  eye.  Daniel  Webster  is 
no  more,  and  the  great  heart  of  the  nation  is  smitten 
with  sorrow  under  so  heavy  a  bereavement.  All  classes 
of  men — all  parties — all  professions  and  occupations 
— join  in  doing  honor  to  his  memory,  with  a  una- 
nimity of  grief  unexampled  since  the  death  of  the 
Father  of  his  Country. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  or  province  to  eulogize  the 
man  whom  a  nation  deplores.  That  sad  and  grateful 


196  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

task  has  been  performed  by  lips  touched  with  the  liv- 
ing flame  of  eloquence  from  the  altar  where  his  own 
eloquence  was  kindled.  Those  who  stood  by  him 
longest  in  public  life  and  who  shared  most  intimate- 
ly in  his  friendship  and  fireside  conversation ;  his 
brethren  at  the  Bar,  where  he  was  foremost;  his  asso- 
ciates in  the  Senate,  where  he  was  the  first  among 
equals;  his  colleagues  in  the  Cabinet,  where  he  was 
the  guiding  star  of  policy ;  they  who  have  acted  with 
him  or  under  him,  in  diplomacy,  —  will  most  fittingly 
delineate  his  character,  in  its  massive  proportions  and 
towering  grandeur. 

The  currents  of  public  and  professional  life  bore 
him,  in  a  measure,  away  from  the  fields  of  science 
and  letters;  and  his  winter  residence,  for  many  years 
at  a  distance  from  this  city,  deprived  us  of  his  per- 
sonal cooperation  in  the  proceedings  of  this  Academy. 
Yet,  in  the  midst  of  great  and  constant  professional 
labors ;  under  the  weight  of  public  duties  and  the 
cares  of.  office,  his  comprehensive  mind  has  never  been 
alienated  from  the  genial  pursuits  of  letters  and  sci- 
ence. In  his  legal  arguments  and  his  public  dis- 
courses, he  has  shown  rich  acquirements  in  learning, 
and  a  minute  familiarity  with  the  progress  of  modern 
discovery.  In  the  science  of  government,  in  political 
philosophy,  he  was  without  a  superior.  The  profound 
thoughts,  matured  by  his  luminous  intellect,  and  given 
to  the  public  through  a  long  series  of  years,  have  be- 
come a  part  of  the  common  sense  of  the  country.  He 
was  no  stranger  to  the  walks  of  ancient  learning. 
The  ethical  and  political  wisdom  of  Aristotle  and  Ci- 
cero he  had  deeply  studied.  The  poem  of  Homer,  and 


AMERICAN   ACADEMY    OF   ARTS   AND    SCIENCES.  197 

the  histories  of  Herodotus,  Thucydides,  and  Polybius, 
commanded  his  admiration,  and  occupied  many  of  his 
leisure  hours.  The  great  Roman  Masters  were,  in  a 
more  special  manner,  his  daily  friends  and  compa- 
nions ;  and  he  read  their  works  not  only  with  an  ap- 
preciation of  the  substance  and  philosophy,  but  with 
a  refined  discrimination  of  their  manner  and  style. 
With  the  best  writers  in  English  literature,  his  ac- 
quaintance was  profound  and  critical.  Those  who  have 
heard  him  read  from  Shakspeare,  Milton,  and  Gray, 
and  converse  upon  them  afterwards,  remember,  not 
only  how  deeply  he  entered  into  the  spirit  of  these 
illustrious  authors,  but  with  what  rare  felicity  of  judg- 
ment and  delicacy  of  taste  he  discriminated  the  mi- 
nutest shades  of  beauty,  in  the  structure  of  their 
sentences,  and  the  choice  and  arrangement  of  their 
words.  This  fine  literary  taste,  the  result  of  natural 
gifts  disciplined  by  study,  is  seen  in  the  freshness, 
vigor,  and  beauty  of  his  style,  in  his  published  works. 
Mr.  Webster  was  accustomed  to  lament  that  the 
pressure  of  business  had  limited  his  studies  to  frag- 
mentary portions  of  time  ;  and  to  regret  that  he  had 
so  seldom  enjoyed,  for  any  length  of  time,  the  society 
of  scientific  men.  Yet  he  had  not  failed  to  keep  pace 
with  the  progress  of  science  in  our  age.  I  remember 
falling  accidentally  in  his  company,  more  than  twenty 
years  since,  among  the  granite  mountains  of  New 
Hampshire,  and  noticing  that  the  book  he  had  taken 
with  him,  on  a  journey  of  recreation,  was  a  treatise, 
then  just  published,  on  the  science  of  Geology.  In  a 
conversation  I  held  with  him  just  five  weeks  before 
his  death,  he  told  me  that  many  years  ago,  being 


198  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

unable  to  visit  remote  localities,  and  to  examine  the 
formations  in  situ,  and  yet  desirous  to  see  the  order 
of  nature  with  his  own  eyes  while  he  read,  he  had 
employed  a  learned  geologist  to  make  a  collection  of 
specimens,  and  to  arrange  them  on  shelves,  according 
to  the  succession  of  layers  in  the  crust  of  the  earth. 
I  might  enumerate  other  sciences,  the  progress  of 
which  had  not  escaped  his  attention.  The  principles 
of  Physical  Geography,  its  relations  to  the  history  of 
man,  and  the  distribution  of  the  animal  and  vegetable 
kingdoms  over  the  face  of  the  earth,  as  developed  by 
Hitter  and  Humboldt,  were  well  understood  by  him. 
Among  the  books  which  occupied  the  last  months  of 
his  life,  was  Humboldt's  Cosmos,  which  he  had  care- 
fully studied,  mastering  its  substance  and  details  with 
characteristic  ability  and  comprehension.  His  tastes 
as  a  sportsman  had  led  him  to  observe  carefully  the 
habits  of  the  fishes  of  our  streams  and  coasts,  and  his 
knowledge  of  them  was  extensive  and  exact.  One  of 
the  plans  he  had  laid  out  for  the  leisure  he  seemed 
about  to  enjoy,  was  to  write  a  work,  in  which  these 
observations  should  be  recorded.  The  last  request  he 
made  to  me,  in  the  conversation  I  have  alluded  to, 
was  that  I  would  submit  to  a  member  of  this  Aca- 
demy, whose  work  on  Fresh-water  Fishes  he  had  re- 
cently examined,  certain  questions  relating  to  some 
of  the  phenomena  of  Ichthyology,  which  he  had  no- 
ticed, but  did  not  fully  understand. 

I  have  thought,  Mr.  President,  that  the  character 
and  works  of  this  distinguished  person  were  such  that 
his  associates  in  this  Academy  would  deem  it  fitting 
to  notice  the  Dispensation  of  Providence  which  has 


AMERICAN    ACADEMY    OF    ARTS   AND    SCIENCES.          199 

taken  him  away.  I  am  persuaded  it  will  be  the  dic- 
tate of  every  heart, — if  I  may  borrow  the  words  of 
one  of  his  favorite  authors, — "Sic  memoriam  venerari, 
ut  omnia  facta  dictaque  ejus  secum  revolvant,  for- 
rnamque  ac  figuram  animi  magis  quam  corporis  com- 
plectantur.  Forma  mentis  ceterna.  Quidquid  ex  eo 
amavinius,  quidquid  rnirati  sumus,  manet,  mansururn- 
que  est,  in  animis  hominum,  in  seternitate  temporum, 
fama  rerum." 

I  ask  leave  to  offer  the  following  resolutions: 

Resolved,  That  the  Fellows  of  the  American  Academy  of  Arts 
and  Sciences  deeply  lament  the  decease  of  their  late  associate, 
the  Honorable  Daniel  Webster,  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United 
States.  By  his  death  the  Country  is  bereaved  of  her  ablest  prac- 
tical statesman,  and  profoundest  political  philosopher ;  Letters  and 
Eloquence  have  lost  a  most  distinguished  ornament ;  Science  is  de- 
prived of  a  great  and  versatile  mind,  which  understood  its  pro- 
gress, appreciated  its  value,  recognized  its  dignity,  and  mastered 
its  results,  in  the  midst  of  professional  labors  and  public  cares,  to 
which  his  energies  were  devoted  almost  to  the  last  moment  of 
his  life. 

Resolved,  That  the  Fellows  of  this  Academy  tender  to  the 
family  of  their  late  eminent  associate  their  most  respectful  sym- 
pathy, in  this  private  and  public  calamity. 

The  resolutions  were  seconded  by  the  Hon.  Francis 
C.  Gray,  who  made  some  remarks,  and  by  Professor 
Parsons,  of  the  Cambridge  Law  School,  who  spoke  in 
their  support;  and  they  were  unanimously  adopted. 


FUNERAL. 


26 


' 

<jno8nl  diiw  bsiBqsi 
~xe 


THE   FUNERAL. 


FRIDAY,  October  29,  was  the  day  of  Mr.  Webster's 
funeral.  Boston  never  before  presented  —  probably 
never  will  again  present  —  so  general  an  aspect  of 
mourning,  and  never  were  there  witnessed  such  spon- 
taneous, universal,  and  deep  tokens  of  feeling.  Most 
of  the  shops  were  closed,  as  well  as  the  public  in- 
stitutions, offices,  and  markets  ;  and  a  large  propor- 
tion of  the  city  was  dressed  in  the  habiliments  of 
sorrow.  The  mourning  draperies  upon  many  of  the 
buildings,  public  and  private,  were  rich,  elaborate,  and 
tasteful.  Festoons  of  black  and  white  were  almost 
continuous  through  Washington,  Hanover,  and  other 
principal  streets  ;  and  multiplied  mottoes,  expressing 
grief  and  admiration,  were  placed  upon  walls  and 
over  door-ways.  Flags,  prepared  with  inscriptions  and 
dressed  in  mourning,  were  extended  across  the  streets. 
In  general,  the  mottoes  and  inscriptions  were  ex- 
tremely well  chosen  and  appropriate,  and  were  a 
proof,  not  only  of  the  estimation  in  which  Mr.  Web- 
ster was  held  in  Boston,  but  of  the  high  standard  of 
taste  and  cultivation  among  its  citizens. 

In  the  multiplicity  of  these  personal  and  spontane- 


204  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

ous  expressions  of  feeling,  it  is  impossible  to  describe, 
or  specify  any ;  but  from  amongst  the  mottoes,  of 
which  more  than  a  hundred  were  exhibited,  the  fol- 
lowing are  selected  : 

His  words  of  wisdom,   with  resistless   poAver, 

Have  graced  our  brightest,   cheered  our  darkest  hour. 

Thou  hast  instructed  many,  and  thou  hast  strengthened  the  weak  hands. 

We've  scanned  the  actions  of  his  daily  life  and  nothing  meets  our  eyes 
but  deeds  of  honor. 

Some  when  they  die,  die  all.     Their  mouldering  clay  is  but  an  emblem 
of  their  memories.     But  he  has  lived.     He  leaves  a  work  be- 
hind  which  will  pluck  the  shining  age  from  vulgar 
time,    and  give  it  whole  to  late  posterity. 

Thou  art  mighty  yet.     Thy  spirit  walks  abroad. 
The  great  heart  of  the  nation  throbs  heavily  at  the  portals  of  his  grave. 

Live  like  patriots !     Live  like  Americans !     United  all,  united  now,  and 

united  forever. 

Wherever  among  men  a  heart  shall  be  found  that  beats  to  the  trans- 
ports of  patriotism  and  liberty,  its  aspirations  shall 
be  to  claim  kindred  with  his  spirit. 

Then  this  Daniel  was  preferred  above  the  Presidents  and  Princes, 
because  an  excellent  spirit  was  in  him. 

Know  thou,  O  stranger,  to  the  fame 
Of  this  much  loved,  much  honored  name, 
(For  none  that  knew  him  need  be  told,) 
A  warmer  heart  Death  ne'er  made  cold. 

The  glory  of  thy  life,  like  the  day  of  thy  death,  shall  not  fail  from  the 
remembrance  of  man. 

Between  twelve  and  one  —  the  hour  of  the  funeral 


THE    FUNERAL.  205 

at  Marshfield  —  minute  guns  were  fired,  and  the  bells 
of  the  churches  were  tolled ;  from  sunrise  to  sunset 
guns  were  fired  every  fifteen  minutes,  and  almost  con- 
tinuously. Similar  signs  of  mourning  were  heard  from 
the  hills  of  the  neighboring  towns,  and  along  the  line 
of  the  coast.  The  streets  were  crowded  with  citizens 
and  visitors  from  the  country,  reading  the  inscriptions, 
and  walking  through  the  public  buildings,  all  wearing, 
upon  their  saddened  countenances,  tokens  of  sincere 
sorrow.  Though  a  day  of  leisure  and  entire  cessa- 
tion from  labor,  there  was  no  thought  of  any  thing 
but  our  great  loss.  There  were  no  smiling  faces  to 
be  seen,  and  no  cheerful  voices  to  be  heard. 

The  funeral  solemnities  were  at  Mr.  Webster's  own 
residence  in  Marshfield.  In  conformity  with  the  wish 
expressed  in  his  will,  every  thing  was  arranged  with 
the  utmost  simplicity,  in  the  order  usual  in  a  New 
England  funeral,  but  private  it  could  not  be.  In  ad- 
dition to  the  general  sense  of  loss  in  the  removal  of 
a  great  leader  and  a  statesman,  in  whose  wisdom  and 
firmness  so  strong  a  confidence  was  reposed,  there 
was  in  many  hearts  a  feeling  of  personal  bereave- 
ment in  the  death  of  a  revered  and  beloved  friend ; 
and  thus  thousands  were  led  to  the  spot  by  a  wish 
to  honor  his  memory  and  look  once  more  upon  his 
face.  From  all  quarters,  by  every  path,  and  by  every 
conveyance,  great  multitudes  came  together ;  and  the 
whole  number  of  persons  assembled  at  the  hour  of 
noon  was  probably  not  less  than  ten  or  twelve  thou- 
sand. 

A  thoughtful  consideration  for  the  feelings  of  all 
who  \vere  present  was  shown  in  the  arrangements  of 


206  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

the  funeral.  In  order  that  the  wish  which  all  felt, 
to  look  for  the  last  time  upon  the  face  of  the  illus- 
trious dead,  might  be  gratified  without  hurry  or  con- 
fusion, the  body  was  brought  from  the  library  at  an 
early  hour  in  the  morning  and  placed  upon  the  lawn, 
in  front  of  the  house,  beneath  the  open  heavens  and 
under  a  tree  which,  in  its  summer  foliage,  was  a  con- 
spicuous ornament  of  the  spot.  The  majestic  form 
reposed  in  the  familiar  garb  of  life,  with  more  than 
the  dignity  of  life  in  its  most  imposing  moments. 
Suffering  had  changed,  without  impairing  those  noble 
features.  The  grandeur  of  the  brow  was  untouched, 
and  the  attitude  full  of  strength  and  peace.  For 
more  than  three  hours  a  constant  stream  of  men  and 
women,  of  all  ages,  passed  on  both  sides,  pausing  for 
a  moment  to  look  upon  that  loved  and  honored  form. 
Parents  held  their  children  by  the  hand,  bade  them 
contemplate  the  face  of  their  benefactor,  and  charged 
them  never  to  lose  the  memory  of  that  spectacle  and 
that  hour.  Many  dissolved  into  tears  as  they  turned 
aside;  and  one — a  man  of  plain  garb  and  appearance  — 
was  heard  to  make,  in  a  subdued  voice,  the  striking 
remark,  "  Daniel  Webster,  the  world  will  seem  lone- 
some without  you." 

The  thoughtful  and  kindly  feeling  which  dictated 
all  the  arrangements,  permitted  any  who  wished, 
to  enter  the  house  by  the  principal  entrance,  walk 
through  a  small  sitting-room,  where  hang  several  fami- 
ly portraits,  and  going  through  the  library,  a  beauti- 
ful and  favorite  room,  ornamented  with  the  like- 
nesses of  Mr.  Webster  and  Lord  Ashburton,  pass  out 
upon  the  lawn.  Thousands  availed  themselves  of  this 


THE     FUNERAL.  207 

privilege, — silently,  decorously,  sadly.  There  was  no 
sound  from  that  vast  multitude,  but  the  inevitable 
grating  of  their  feet  upon  the  paths.  This  was  like  the 
chafing  of  the  surf  upon  a  pebbly  beach, — a  strange, 
impressive  murmur. 

At  twelve,  the  passing  through  the  house  was 
stopped.  Soon  afterwards,  the  Rev.  EBENEZER  ALDEN, 
pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church  in  South  Marsh- 
field,  where  Mr.  Webster  had  been  accustomed  to 
attend  public  worship,  commenced  the  religious  ser- 
vice by  reading  a  selection  from  the  Bible.  After 
which,  the  following  address  was  made  by  him: 

On  an  occasion  like  the  present,  a  multitude  of 
words  were  worse  than  idle.  Standing  before  that  ma- 
jestic form,  it  becomes  ordinary  men  to  keep  silence. 
"He  being  dead,  yet  speaketh."  In  the  words  he 
applied  to  Washington,  in  the  last  great  public  dis- 
course he  ever  delivered,  the  whole  atmosphere  is 
redolent  of  his  name ;  hills  and  forests,  rocks  and 
rivers,  echo  and  reecho  his  praises.  All  the  good, 
whether  learned  or  unlearned,  high  or  low,  rich  or 
poor,  feel  this  day  that  there  is  one  treasure  common 
to  them  all,  and  that  is  the  fame  and  character  of 
Webster.  They  recount  his  deeds,  ponder  over  his 
principles  and  teachings,  and  resolve  to  be  more  and 
more  guided  by  them  in  future.  Americans  by  birth 
are  proud  of  his  character,  and  exiles  from  foreign 
shores  are  eager  to  participate  in  admiration  of  him; 
and  it  is  true  that  he  is,  this  day,  here,  everywhere, 
more  an  object  of  love  and  regard  than  on  any  day 
since  his  birth. 


208  AVEBSTEK    MEMORIAL. 

And  while  the  world,  too  prone  to  worship  mere 
intellect,  laments  that  the  orator  and  statesman  is  no 
more,  we  enter  upon  more  sacred  ground,  and  dwell 
upon  the  example  and  counsels  of  a  Christian,  as  a 
husband,  father,  and  friend.  I  trust  it  will  be  no  rude 
wounding  of  the  spirit,  no  intrusion  upon  the  privacy 
of  (Domestic  life,  to  allude  to  a  few  circumstances  in 
the  last  scenes  of  the  mortal  existence  of  the  great 
man  who  is  gone,  fitted  to  administer  Christian  con- 
solation, and  to  guide  to  a  better  acquaintance  with 
that  religion  which  is  adapted  both  to  temper  our 
grief  and  establish  our  hope. 

Those  who  were  present  upon  the  morning  of  that 
Sabbath  upon  which  this  head  of  a  family  conducted 
the  worship  of  his  household,  will  never  forget,  as  he 
read  from  our  Lord's  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  the  em- 
phasis which  he  alone  was  capable  of  giving  to  that 
passage  which  speaks  of  the  divine  nature  of  forgive- 
ness. They  saw  beaming  from  that  eye,  now  closed 
in  death,  the  Spirit  of  Him  who  first  uttered  that 
godlike  sentiment. 

And  he  who,  by  the  direction  of  the  dying  man, 
upon  a  subsequent  morning  of  the  day  of  rest,  read 
in  their  connection  these  words :  "  Lord,  I  believe ; 
help  thou  my  unbelief;"  and  then  the  closing  chap- 
ter of  our  Saviour's  last  words  to  his  disciples,  being 
particularly  requested  to  dwell  upon  this  clause  of 
the  verse — "Holy  Father,  keep  through  thine  own 
name  those  whom  thou  hast  given  me,  that  they  may 
be  one  as  we  are" — beheld  a  sublime  illustration  of 
the  indwelling  and  abiding  power  of  Christian  faith. 

And  if  these   tender   remembrances    only  cause  our 


THE    FUNERAL.  209 

tears  to  flow  more  freely,  it  may  not  be  improper  for 
us  to  present  the  example  of  the  father,  when  his 
great  heart  was  rent  by  the  loss  of  a  daughter  whom 
he  most  dearly  loved.  Those  present  on  that  occa- 
sion well  remember  when  the  struggle  of  mortal  agony 
was  over,  retiring  from  the  presence  of  the  dead,  bow- 
ing together  before  the  presence  of  God,  and  joining 
with  the  afflicted  father  as  he  poured  forth  his  soul, 
pleading  for  grace  and  strength  from  on  high. 

As  upon  the  morning  of  his  death  we  conversed 
upon  the  evident  fact  that,  for  the  last  few  weeks,  his 
mind  had  been  engaged  in  preparation  for  an  ex- 
change of  worlds,  one  who  knew  him,  well  remarked, 
"His  whole  life  has  been  that  preparation."  The 
people  of  this  rural  neighborhood,  among  whom  he 
spent  the  last  twenty  years  of  his  life,  among  whom 
he  died,  and  with  whom  he  is  to  rest,  have  been 
accustomed  to  regard  him  with  mingled  veneration 
and  love.  Those  who  knew  him  best,  can  the  most 
truly  appreciate  the  lessons  both  from  his  lips  and  ex- 
ample, teaching  the  sustaining  power  of  the  Gospel. 

His  last  words,  "I  STILL  LIVE,"  we  may  interpret  in 
a  higher  sense  than  that  in  which  they  are  usually 
regarded.  He  has  taught  us  how  to  attain  the  life 
of  faith  and  the  life  to  come. 

Vividly  impressed  upon  the  memory  of  the  speaker 
is  the  instruction  once  received  as  to  the  fitting  way 
of  presenting  divine  truth  from  the  sacred  desk. 
Would  that  its  force  might  be  felt  by  those  who  are 
called  to  minister  in  divine  things.  Said  Mr.  Web- 
ster, "When  I  attend  upon  the  preaching  of  the  Gos- 
pel, I  wish  to  have  it  made  a  personal  matter,  A  PER- 

27 


210  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

SONAL  MATTER,  A  PERSONAL  MATTER."  It  is  to 
present  him  as  enforcing  these  divine  lessons  of  wis- 
dom and  consolation,  that  we  have  recalled  to  your 
minds  these  precious  recollections. 

And  we  need  utter  no  apology.  Indeed,  we  should 
be  inexcusable  in  letting  the  present  opportunity  pass 
without  unveiling  the  inner  sanctuary  of  the  life  of 
the  foremost  man  of  all  this  world;  for  his  most  inti- 
mate friends  are  well  aware  that  he  had  it  in  mind 
to  prepare  a  work  upon  the  internal  evidences  of 
Christianity,  as  a  testimony  of  his  heartfelt  conviction 
of  the  "divine  reality"  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ. 
But,  finding  himself  rapidly  approaching  those  august 
scenes  of  immortality  into  which  he  had  so  often 
looked,  he  dictated  the  most  important  part  of  his 
epitaph.  And  so  long  as  "the  rock  shall  guard  his 
rest,  and  the  ocean  sound  his  dirge,"  the  world  shall 
read  upon  his  monument,  not  only 

One  of  the  few,  the  immortal  names, 
Which  were  not  born  to  die ; 

but  also  that  Daniel  Webster  lived  and  died  in  the 
Christian  faith.  The  delineation  which  he  gave  of 
one  of  his  early  and  noble  compeers,  could  never  have 
been  written  except  from  an  experimental  acquaint- 
ance with  that  which  he  holds  up  as  the  chief  excel- 
lence of  his  friend.  This  description  we  shall  apply  to 
himself,  trusting  that  it  will  be  as  well  understood 
as  admired. 

Political  eminence  and  professional  fame  fade  away 
and  die  with  all  things  earthly.  Nothing  of  character 
is  really  permanent  but  virtue  and  personal  worth. 


THE  FUNERAL.  211 

These  remain.  Whatever  of  excellence  is  wrought 
into  the  soul  itself  belongs  to  both  worlds.  Real 
goodness  does  not  attach  itself  merely  to  this  life;  it 
points  to  another  world.  Political  or  professional  re- 
putation cannot  last  forever;  but  a  conscience  void 
of  offence  before  God  and  man  is  an  inheritance  for 
eternity.  Religion,  therefore,  is  a  necessary  and  in- 
dispensable element  in  any  great  human  character. 
There  is  no  living  without  it.  Religion  is  the  tie 
that  connects  man  with  his  Creator,  and  holds  him 
to  His  throne.  If  that  tie  be  all  sundered,  all  broken, 
he  floats  away,  a  worthless  atom  in  the  universe ;  its 
proper  attractions  all  gone,  its  destiny  thwarted,  and 
its  whole  future  nothing  but  darkness,  desolation,  and 
death.  A  man  with  no  sense  of  religious  duty  is  he 
whom  the  Scriptures  describe  in  such  terse  but  ter- 
rific language,  as  living  without  God  in  the  world. 
Such  a  man  is  out  of  his  proper  being,  out  of  the 
circle  of  all  his  duties,  out  of  the  circle  of  all  his 
happiness,  and  away,  far,  far  away  from  the  purposes 
of  his  creation. 

A  mind  like  Mr.  Webster's,  active,  thoughtful,  pene- 
trating, sedate,  could  not  but  meditate  deeply  on  the 
condition  of  man  below,  and  feel  its  responsibilities. 
He  could  not  look  on  this  mighty  system, 

This  universal  frame,  thus  wondrous  fair, 

without  feeling  that  it  was  created  and  upheld  by  an 
Intelligence,  to  which  all  other  intelligence  must  be  re- 
sponsible. I  am  bound  to  say  that  in  the  course  of  my 
life  I  never  met  with  an  individual,  in  any  profession 
or  condition,  who  always  spoke  and  always  thought 


212  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

with  such  awful  reverence  of  the  power  and  presence 
of  God.  No  irreverence,  no  lightness,  even  no  too 
familiar  allusion  to  God  and  his  attributes  ever  escap- 
ed his  lips.  The  very  notion  of  a  Supreme  Being 
was,  with  him,  made  up  of  awe  and  solemnity.  It 
filled  the  whole  of  his  great  mind  with  the  strongest 
emotions.  A  man  like  him,  with  all  his  proper  senti- 
ments and  sensibilities  alive  in  him,  must,  in  this 
state  of  existence,  have  something  to  believe,  and 
something  to  hope  for;  or  else,  as  life  is  advancing 
to  its  close,  all  is  heart-sinking  and  oppression.  De- 
pend upon  it,  whatever  may  be  the  mind  of  an  old 
man,  old  age  is  only  really  happy  when,  on  feeling 
the  enjoyments  of  this  world  pass  away,  it  begins  to 
lay  a  stronger  hold  on  the  realities  of  another. 

Mr.  Webster's  religious  sentiments  and  feelings  were 
the  crowning  glories  of  his  character. 

The  address  was  followed  by  a  prayer.  The  rooms, 
hall,  and  stairway,  were  filled  by  Mr.  Webster's  rela- 
tives and  friends,  while  a  vast  mass  of  listeners  stood 
on  the  piazza,  and  on  the  lawn;  the  position  of  the 
clergyman,  near  the  hall  door,  enabling  many  to  hear. 

During  the  exercises,  unperceived  by  the  group 
round  the  clergyman,  arrangements  were  made  for 
conveying  the  body  to  the  tomb.  The  metallic  case, 
in  which  it  was  deposited,  was  covered,  and  placed  on 
a  simple,  low  platform,  drawn  by  one  pair  of  black 
horses,  whose  harness  was  slightly  dressed  with  crape. 
The  coffin  was  covered  with  full  black  cloth,  confined 
by  several  plated  ornaments;  a  wreath  of  oak  leaves 
was  at  the  head ;  another  of  fresh  flowers  at  the  foot. 


THE   FUNERAL.  213 

After  a  few  moments'  pause,  at  the  conclusion  of 
the  prayer,  two  or  three  gentlemen  quietly  and  gra- 
dually opened  a  path  through  the  dense  mass  of  per- 
sons around  the  house.  In  solemn  silence,  six  of  Mr. 
Webster's  neighbors,  Asa  llewett,  Seth  "VVeston,  Eleazer 
Harlow,  J.  P.  Cushnian,  Tilden  Ames,  Daniel  Phillips, 
took  their  places  on  either  side  of  his  bier.  His  son, 
grandson,  relatives,  domestics,  and  the  persons  having 
the  charge  and  management  of  his  estates,  stood  next. 
Among  the  domestics  were  several  colored  persons, 
who  had  been  long  in  Mr.  Webster's  service,  and  were 
deeply  attached  to  him.  One  of  them  had  been  re- 
cently emancipated  by  him.  The  Governor  of  the 
Commonwealth,  the  Council  and  State  Officers,  the 
Mayor  of  Boston  and  City  Government,  distinguished 
citizens  of  Massachusetts,  and  many  from  the  other 
New  England  States,  and  delegations  from  other  States 
and  cities,  with  hundreds  of  personal,  devoted  friends 
of  Mr.  Webster,  quietly  passed  into  the  long  sad  pro- 
cession ;  truly  a  sad  procession ;  for  the  multitudes 
that  lined  the  path  for  nearly  the  whole  distance  to 
the  tomb,  were  moved  by  the  same  grief  that  rested 
on  the  hearts  of  the  mourners. 

The  morning  had  been  uncommonly  beautiful.  The 
air  was  soft  and  warm,  and  the  light  so  rich  and 
golden,  that  the  slight  shade  still  found  under  some 
few  trees,  had  been  grateful.  Just  as  the  procession 
began  to  move,  a  chill  breeze  came  up  from  the  ocean, 
and  threw  a  veil  of  mist  over  the  sky. 

When  the  funeral  train,  all  on  foot,  unheralded  by 
official  pomp,  military  display,  or  even  the  strains  of 
mourning  music,  had  reached  the  modest  tomb,  the 


214  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

honored  form  was  rested  at  the  entrance.  It  was  once 
more  uncovered  that  relatives  and  friends  might  again 
and  for  the  last  time,  look  upon  that  majestic  counte- 
nance ;  a  fervent  prayer  was  again  offered ;  and  then, 
slowly  and  sadly,  friend  and  stranger  passed  away,  and 
left  the  illustrious  sleeper  with  those  whom  he  had  so 
tenderly  loved  in  life,  and  with  whom  death  had  now 
reunited  him. 

The  tomb,  with  its  group  of  unpretending  monu- 
ments, is  on  a  gentle  eminence,  about  a  mile  from 
the  mansion-house,  and  adjoining  the  ancient  village 
burying-ground,  where  rests  the  dust  of  some  of  the 
early  Pilgrim  Fathers.  Mr.  Webster  had  himself 
superintended  the  preparation  of  the  tomb,  and  the 
erection  of  the  monuments  to  the  wife  and  children 
he  had  lost,  directing  that  the  one  erected  to  himself 
should  be  of  the  same  style  and  proportions.  Over 
the  door  of  the  tomb  is  cut  merely,  "  Daniel  Web- 
ster." On  the  three  monuments  within  the  inclosure, 
are  the  following  inscriptions: 

GRACE  FLETCHER, 

Wife  of  Daniel  Webster, 

Born  January  16,  1781, 

Died  January  21,  1828. 

Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart,  for  they  shall  see  God. 

JULIA  WEBSTER, 

•wife  of 

Samuel  Appleton  Appleton ; 
Born  January  16,  1818, 

Died  April  28,  1848, 
Let  me  go,  for  the  day  breaketh. 

MART  CONSTANCE  APPLETON, 

Born  Feb.  7,  1848. 
Died  March  15,  1849. 


THE    FUNERAL.  215 

MAJOR  EDWARD  WEBSTER, 

Born  July  20,  1820. 

Died  at  San  Angel,  in  Mexico, 

In  the  military  service 

of  his  country, 

Jan.  23,  1848. 

A  dearly  beloved  son  and  brother. 

As  the  multitude  turned  from  the  hallowed  spot, 
many  gathered  flowers,  leaves,  or  even  blades  of  grass, 
to  be  treasured  as  memorials  of  a  day,  unequalled  in 
solemn  pathos,  within  their  experience.  The  effect 
upon  the  minds  of  all  present,  can  never  be  described. 

All  things  were  in  harmony,  —  the  beauty  of  the 
day,  the  falling  leaves,  the  countenances  of  the  assem- 
bled multitude,  the  appropriate  arrangements,  the  as- 
pect of  the  autumnal  landscape,  —  all  aided  in  pro- 
ducing an  elevated  and  tender  mood  of  feeling.  It- 
was  one  of  those  rare  occasions  in  which  a  brief  space 
of  time  is  sufficient  to  leave  impressions,  which  all  the 
experiences  of  future  life  will  not  be  able  to  efface. 


ON    THE 


THIRTIETH  OF  NOVEMBER. 


28 


•2:1! 


PROCESSION    AND    SERVICES    ON    THE 
THIRTIETH   OF  NOVEMBER. 


TUESDAY,  November  30th,  was  the  day  devoted  by 
the  City  Authorities  of  Boston,  to  a  public  expression 
of  respect  for  the  memory  of  Mr.  Webster.  The  day 
was  highly  favorable,  the  weather  being  mild,  and  the 
air  clear.  The  common  business  of  the  city,  was  sus- 
pended, and  the  streets  were  filled  with  a  concourse 
of  spectators,  whose  manner  and  appearance  showed 
their  sense  of  the  great  loss  they  had  sustained. 

The  New  Hampshire  Legislature  had  voted  to  at- 
tend the  obsequies ;  and,  at  an  early  hour  in  the  morn- 
ing, the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Sons  of  New 
Hampshire,  and  other  natives  of  the  State,  assembled 
at  the  Depot  of  the  Lowell  Railroad,  in  order  to  re- 
ceive them. 

The  Concord  train  came  in  at  a  quarter  after  nine 
o'clock,  with  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  members  of 
the  Council,  Senate,  and  House  of  Representatives. 
Hon.  John  S.  Wells,  President  of  the  New  Hampshire 
Senate,  Governor  Martin  being  detained  by  indisposi- 
tion, was  introduced  to  Hon.  Marshall  P.  Wilder,  Pre- 


220  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

sident  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Sons  of  New 
Hampshire,  in  Boston,  by  Mr.  Wiggin,  of  Dover,  of  the 
Committee  of  Arrangements.  After  the  introduction, 
Colonel  WILDER  addressed  Mr.  Wells,  as  the  represent- 
ative of  his  State,  as  follows : 

Mr.  President  of  the  Senate,  and  Gentlemen  —  In 
behalf  of  the  Sons  of  New  Hampshire,  resident  in 
Boston  and  vicinity,  I  bid  you  welcome  to  this  city, 
and  to  the  State  of  our  adoption. 

The  afflictive  dispensation  of  Providence  which  has 
assembled  us  together  this  morning,  and  the  objects 
of  our  meeting  are  so  well  known  by  all,  as  to  need 
only  a  brief  explanation  from  me. 

A  mighty  one  has  fallen !  Our  elder  brother,  New 
Hampshire's  favorite  son,  is  no  more !  All  that  was 
mortal  of  Daniel  Webster,  the  great  American  Ex- 
pounder of  Constitutional  authority  and  National  rights, 
has  been  consigned  to  the  bosom  of  his  mother  earth. 

The  loss  to  us,  to  the  country,  and  the  world,  is 
irreparable.  The  whole  nation  mourns.  Our  city  is 
hung  in  the  drapery  of  woe,  "and  the  mourners  go 
about  the  streets." 

New  Hampshire  claims  the  honor  of  Mr.  Webster's 
birth ;  and  among  the  millions  who  are  afflicted  in  the 
general  bereavement,  none,  I  am  sure,  are  more  sin- 
cere mourners,  than  her  sons.  As  brethren  of  the 
same  family,  we  receive  you  with  true  fraternal  affec- 
tion; and  we  unite  our  sympathy  and  mingle  our 
tears  with  yours. 

But  in  this  hour  of  our  trial  and  sorrow,  let  us  not 
forget  that  our  loss  is  his  unspeakable  gain.  Although 


PROCESSION   AND    SERVICES.  221 

we  now  mourn,  let  us  thank  God  that  he  was  spared 
to  us  so  long,  that  he  was  enabled  to  accomplish  so 
much  for  us,  and  for  the  cause  of  universal  freedom 
and  humanity,  and  that  his  sun  was  permitted  to  go 
down  unclouded,  and  shining  in  the  greatness  of  its 
strength. 

Gentlemen,  it  is  not  my  province  to  pronounce  his 
eulogy ;  that  duty  will  be  performed  by  abler  men, 
and  more  gifted  lips. 

Daniel  Webster  is  dead !  We  shall  see  that  majes- 
tic form  no  more !  But  his  fame  is  immortal !  It  is 
registered  on  the  hearts  of  his  grateful  countrymen. 
Yes,  and  it  shall  be  transmitted  unsullied  and  un- 
tarnished through  all  coming  ages  ;  and  when  the 
monumental  marble  shall  have  crumbled  into  dust,  it 
shall  "  still  live  ! "  It  shall  LIVE  FOREVER  ! 

To  which,  Hon.  JOHN  S.  WELLS  replied,  in  behalf  of 
the  New  Hampshire  Delegation : 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen,  "  Sons  of  New  Hamp- 
shire "  —  The  representatives  of  the  people  of  New 
Hampshire  have  postponed,  for  this  day,  their  official 
duties,  that  they  may  join  the  citizens  of  Massachu- 
setts in  doing  honor  to  the  memory  of  him,  whose 
birthplace,  like  yours,  was  surrounded  by  the  wild 
scenery  of  our  mountains,  but  whose  fame  is  limited 
only  by  the  bleak  regions  of  ignorance  and  barbarism. 
We  thank  you,  gentlemen,  for  your  kind  civilities  to 
us  on  this  occasion,  and  trust  that  the  impressions  of 
this  day  may  induce  in  us  a  warmer  love  for  our 
native  State,  and  a  more  ardent  desire  for  the  preser- 
vation of  our  common  country 


222  WEBSTER    MEMORIAL. 

The  bodies  then  formed  in  procession,  under  direc- 
tion of  Mr.  Cheney,  Chief  Marshal  of  the  "  Sons,"  and 
proceeded  to  the  State  House,  where  the  guests  from 
New  Hampshire  were  introduced  to  Governor  Bout- 
well  and  the  Executive  Council,  by  Mr.  Wilder,  and 
the  GOVERNOR  made  the  following  address : 

Mr.  President,  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Executive  and 
Legislative  Departments  of  New  Hampshire  —  Occa- 
sions of  mourning  come  to  communities  and  nations 
as  they  do  to  individuals  and  families  of  the  human 
race.  This  is  an  unusual  assemblage.  Massachusetts 
and  New  Hampshire  have  together  passed  through 
scenes  of  trial  and  suffering,  and  together  have  en- 
joyed the  nation's  triumphs  and  participated  in  the 
nation's  prosperity.  But  now,  in  the  general  bereave- 
ment, they  are  peculiarly  afflicted.  New  Hampshire 
has  had  no  such  other  son;  Massachusetts  has  had  no 
such  other  citizen  as  Daniel  Webster.  Amid  the  so- 
lemnities of  death,  the  differences  of  life  shall  be  for- 
gotten, and  from  the  common  grief  shall  spring  senti- 
ments of  patriotism  and  religion,  whose  influence  shall 
be  felt  in  coming  centuries  of  our  country's  existence. 
Gentlemen,  we  accept  your  presence  as  an  elevated 
token  of  respect  for  the  illustrious  dead,  and  as  an 
assurance  that,  with  the  other  States  of  this  confede- 
racy, our  principles,  our  hopes,  our  destiny,  are  one. 

President  WELLS  responded  as  follows  : 
Sir  —  In  the  absence  of  his   Excellency,   Governor 
Martin,  who  is   prevented   by  illness  from  joining  us 
on  this  occasion,  allow   me   to    say,   that   the    several 


PROCESSION   AND    SERVICES.  223 

branches  of  the  Legislature  of  New  Hampshire  have 
met  your  Excellency  and  the  citizens  of  Massachusetts 
here  to-day,  to  join  in  the  ceremonies  to  be  observed 
by  you,  in  honor  of  the  memory  of  the  late  Daniel 
Webster. 

The  sable  drapery  of  the  legislative  halls,  from  which 
we  this  morning  departed,  exhibits  the  outward  signs 
of  that  sadness  which  pervades  not  only  the  hearts 
of  the  members  of  the  New  Hampshire  Legislature, 
but  of  the  sons  of  New  Hampshire  everywhere,  on 
account  of  this  national  bereavement.  They,  with  you, 
lament  the  fall  of  the  illustrious  Webster.  His  fame 
belongs  to  the  nation.  His  birthplace  was  amid  our 
mountains ;  he  was  trained  in  the  rigid  discipline  of 
New  Hampshire  schools;  and  went  forth  from  his  na- 
tive State  majestic  in  person  and  mind,  towering  above 
all  competition,  even  as  our  famed  Mount  Washington 
towers  above  all  surrounding  objects,  and  fell  not  till 
his  splendid  mind  was  recognized  as  one  of  the  bright- 
est, loftiest  intellects  of  earth.  And  we  have  come 
here  to-day  to  give  force,  if  possible,  to  the  hand 
which  shall  inscribe  on  the  brazen  tablets  the  record 
of  his  mental  greatness. 

Though  a  large  majority  of  this  body  disagreed 
with  him  in  the  leading  political  doctrines  of  his  life, 
yet,  as  an  orator,  a  scholar,  and  a  jurist,  they  have  ever 
referred  to  him  with  pride  and  satisfaction;  and  when 
the  black  cloud  of  disunion  was  seen  in  the  distance, 
and  angry,  convulsive  feelings  were  aroused  through- 
out our  land,  they  gladly  listened  to  the  voice  of 
Webster  as  it  rang  clear  and  powerful  above  the  ex- 
cited elements,  urging  his  countrymen  to  the  patriotic 


224  WEBSTER    MEMORIAL. 

duty  of  standing  by  the  Union  and  the  Constitution. 
Then  it  was,  sir,  that  the  mass  of  New  Hampshire 
hearts  were  turned  warmly  towards  him.  That  act  of 
patriotic  devotion  to  his  country  swept  into  forgetful- 
ness  years  of  political  hostility.  And  when  it  was 
told  us  that  his  great  light  was  sinking  beneath  the 
horizon  of  life,  the  freemen  of  New  Hampshire  mingled 
their  thankfulness  of  heart  with  their  patriotic  coun- 
trymen, that  he  could  depart  with  the  assurance  that 
he  left  but  few  "seeking  to  look  beyond  the  Union, 
to  see  what  might  lie  hidden  in  the  dark  recess  be- 
hind." 

They  sincerely  rejoiced  that  when,  for  the  "last 
time,  he  turned  his  eyes  to  behold  the  sun  in  heaven, 
he  did  not  see  it  shining  on  the  broken  and  disho- 
nored fragments  of  a  once  glorious  Union."  But  that 
his  "last  and  lingering  glance  did  behold  the  gor- 
geous ensign  of  the  Republic,  now  known  and  honor- 
ed throughout  the  earth,  not  a  stripe  erased  or  pol- 
luted, not  a  single  star  obscured,  bearing  not  for  its 
motto  the  miserable  interrogatory,  What  is  all  this  worth  ? 
but  that  other  sentiment,  dear  to  every  true  American 
heart,  Liberty  and  Union,  now  and  forever,  one  and 
inseparable." 

The  two  bodies  then   separated  to   join  in  the  prc 
cession. 

The  different  civic  bodies  which  turned  out,  assem- 
bled in  due  season  at  the  several  points  assigned  to 
them,  and  at  half-past  eleven  o'clock  the  procession 
was  brought  into  line,  and  soon  after  put  in  motion, 
from  the  City  Hall,  marching  up  Tremont  street  in 
the  following  order: 


PROCESSION    AND    SERVICES.  225 

Military  Escort,  under  command  of 
Brigadier-General  Samuel  Andrews. 

Suffolk  Brass  Band. 
Battalion  of  Cavalry,  under  command  of  Major  J.    T.    Pierce. 

National  Lancers Capt.  Jepson. 

Light  Dragoons Capt.  Wright. 

Salem  Brass  Band. 

Artillery  llegiment,  (with  mounted  field-pieces),  under  command  of  Col. 

Cowdin. 

Washington  Artillery Capt.  Bullock. 

Boston  Artillery. Capt.  Evans. 

Cowdin  Phalanx • Capt.  Wardwell. 

Roxbury  Artillery Capt.  Webber. 

Columbian  Artillery-  * Lieut.  Doherty. 

Gloucester  Artillery Capt.  Cook. 

Lynn  Artillery Capt.  Herbert. 

Brigade  Band. 

Regiment  of  Light  Infantry,  under  command  of  Col.  Holbrook. 

Pulaski  Guards Capt.  Wright. 

City  Guards Capt.  French. 

New  England  Guards Capt.  Henshaw. 

Boston  Light  Guard Lieut.  Coverly. 

Independent  Fusileers Capt.  Mitchell. 

National  Guai'd Lieut.  Walker. 

Washington  Light  Guard Capt.  Flagg. 

Boston  Light  Infantry Capt.  Ashley. 

Col.  Green  and  Staff. 

Cambridge  City  Guards Capt.  Meecham. 

Richardson  Guards Lieut.  Dearborn. 

Stoneham  Light  Guard Capt.  Dyke. 

Winchester  Light  Guards •  •  •  •  Capt.  Prince. 

Mechanic  Riflemen Capt.  Adams. 

Veteran  Association Capt.  Calfe. 

Then  came  Gen.  John  S.  Tyler,  Chief  Marshal  of  the 
day,  and  his  Aids,  followed  by  some  forty  carriages, 
containing  the  Municipal  Authorities  and  many  distin- 
guished citizens,  the  Mayor  and  City  Council  of  Rox- 
bury, the  Postmaster,  Collector  of  the  Port  and  Naval 

29 


226  WEBSTER    MEMORIAL. 

Officer  of  Boston,  the  Judges  of  the  United  States  and 
State  Courts,  Foreign  Consuls,  and  officers  of  the  Uni- 
ted States  Navy. 

Next  came  the  Independent  Cadets,  under  command 
of  Colonel  T.  C.  Amory,  accompanied  by  the  Winches- 
ter Brass  Band,  as  a  guard  of  honor  to  his  Excellency 
the  Governor  and  the  Executive  Council ;  followed  by 
the  Boston  School  Committee,  the  Sergeant-at-Arms, 
Senators  and  Representatives  of  Massachusetts,  and 
the  Webster  Executive  Committee. 

The  third  division  was  headed  by  the  Newton  Brass 
Band,  and  contained  the  members  of  the  New  Hamp- 
shire Legislature,  the  City  Government  of  Charlestown, 
and  a  delegation  from  Springfield. 

The  fourth  division  was  headed  by  the  Lowell  Brass 
Band,  and  contained  the  "  Sons  of  New  Hampshire," 
"Massachusetts  Society  of  Cincinnati,"  (in  carriages,) 
the  "  Cape  Cod  Association,"  with  the  Braintree  Brass 
Band,  the  "Massachusetts  Charitable  Mechanic  Asso- 
ciation," and  the  "  Mercantile  Library  Association," 
with  the  American  Brass  Band.  The  banner  of  the 
Sons  of  New  Hampshire  was  of  white  satin,  fringed 
with  black,  and  contained  on  the  front  a  striking  like- 
ness of  Daniel  Webster,  over  which  was  the  motto, 
"  I  Still  Live,"  and  below  it  were  the  words,  "  I  speak 
to-day  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union."  On  one 
side  of  the  portrait,  a  figure  of  the  Goddess  of  Lib- 
erty held  a  green  wreath  over  the  head  of  Webster; 
on  the  other  was  the  national  eagle,  scroll,  and  motto. 
Below  was  the  coaix)f-arms  of  the  State  of  New  Hamp- 
shire, and  the  national  shield,  and  at  the  botton  was 
printed,  "  Sons  of  New  Hampshire."  On  the  reverse 


PROCESSION   AND    SERVICES.  227 

was,  "One  Country,  one  Constitution,  one  Destiny." 
"The  ends  I  shall  aim  at,  shall  be  my  Country's,  my 
God's,  and  Truth's." 

The  fifth  division  contained  the  "Scots'  Charitable 
Society,"  and  was  headed  by  the  Roxbury  Brass  Band, 
and  a  Highland  piper.  On  one  banner  of  this  Society 
was  inscribed, 

Wide  o'er  the  naked  world  declare 
The  worth  we've  lost. 

"  Boston  Irish  Protestant  Mutual  Relief  Society,"  with 
a  banner  bearing  the  words — "  The  Immortal  Web- 
ster ; "  on  the  reverse,  "  The  Immortal  Wellington." 
The  "French  Mutual  Relief  Society,"  with  a  banner 
inscribed  "  Daniel  Webster,  fut  un  grand  homme :  Fran- 
^ais,  honorons  sa  memoire,"  on  the  reverse,  "  Daniel 
Webster — Thy  name  will  ever  be  dear  to  our  me- 
mory." The  "United  Shamrock  Society"  was  accom- 
panied by  the  East  Boston  Brass  Band,  and  the 
"Boston  Roman  Catholic  Mutual  Relief  Society"  fol- 
lowed. 

The  sixth  division  was  headed  by  the  Boston  Brass 
Band,  and  contained  citizens  of  Charlestown,  three 
out-of-town  Fire  Companies,  the  "Bunker  Hill  Boys," 
and  the  "  Sons  of  Maine,"  in  strong  force. 

The  seventh  division  was  headed  by  the  Dedham 
Brass  Band,  and  contained  the  "  Mechanic  Apprentices' 
Library  Association,"  the  "  Boston  Boys'  Webster  Club," 
Avith  a  banner  inscribed,  "A  nation's  gratitude  —  the 
choicest  gift  of  a  people,"  and  on  the  reverse,  "  I  still 
live"— "Webster  for  the  Union."  The  "Jamaica  Plain 
Boys "  bore  a  banner  inscribed  "  Vivat  Vivetque." 

The  eighth  division  was  headed  by  the  Easton  Brass 
Band,  and  contained  various  Associations.  The  Caval- 


228  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

cade  composed  the  ninth  division,  embracing  horsemen 
from  various  adjacent  towns  and  cities. 

The  solemn  train  passed  through  Tremont,  Boylston, 
Pleasant,  Washington,  and  Oak  streets,  Harrison  Ave- 
nue to  Beach,  Lincoln,  Summer,  Winter,  Park,  Beacon, 
Joy,  Mount  Vernon,  Hancock,  Cambridge,  Court,  and 
Sudbury  streets,  across  Hayrnarket  Square  to  Black- 
stone,  Hanover,  Court,  and  State  to  Commercial  and 
South  Market  streets  to  Faneuil  Hall,  where  it  arrived 
about  two  o'clock. 

The  procession  consumed  rather  more  than  an  hour 
in  passing  each  point  on  the  route.  The  number  of 
persons  in  the  column — exclusive  of  the  military, 
cavalcade,  and  those  in  carriages, — by  actual  count 
amounted  to  more  than  two  thousand.  The  number 
in  the  cavalcade  was  about  four  hundred,  and  in  car- 
riages between  two  and  three  hundred.  Including  the 
military,  therefore,  the  whole  procession  probably  num- 
bered not  far  from  four  thousand.  It  proceeded  gene- 
rally in  good  order  and  without  confusion,  and  its 
quiet  passage  was  observed  by  the  spectators  in  so- 
lemn silence. 

The  buildings  on  the  route  of  the  procession  were 
very  generally  decorated  with  the  symbols  of  mourn- 
ing. Black  and  white  drapery  was  used  with  good 
effect,  and,  in  many  places,  busts  and  portraits  of  Mr. 
Webster  were  displayed. 

The  appearance  of  Faneuil  Hall  was  highly  solemn 
and  impressive.  Heavy  folds  of  woollen  cloth  covered 
the  ceiling,  fastened  in  the  centre  by  a  silver  star. 
The  pillars  were  wholly  cased  in  the  same  material, 
which  also  passed  along  the  front  of  the  encircling 
gallery.  To  this  covering  of  the  balustrade  of  the 


PROCESSION    AND    SERVICES.  229 

gallery  was  attached  another  mass  of  black  cloth,  bear- 
ing, in  large  gilded  letters,  the  following  inscriptions, 
being  sentences  from  Mr.  Webster's  Works.  In  front 
of  the  north  gallery  were  the  words,  "  OUR  COUNTRY, 
OUR  WHOLE  COUNTRY,  AND  NOTHING  BUT  OUR  COUNTRY."  In 
front  of  the  eastern  gallery,  the  words — "LIBERTY  AND 

UNION,   NOW    AND    FOREVER,     ONE     AND    INSEPARABLE,"    Were 

inscribed ;  and  in  front  of  the  south  gallery  the  words 

"WE     TURN    TO    HIS     TRANSCENDENT    NAME    FOR    COURAGE 

AND  CONSOLATION."  The  clock  was  wholly  covered,  and 
the  folds  of  the  drapery,  hanging  from  the  back  of 
the  eagle,  were  so  arranged  as  to  form  a  niche,  where 
a  bust  of  Mr.  Webster,  by  Mr.  Ball,  was  placed. 

No  pictures  were  visible  but  the  large  one,  by  Mr. 
Healey,  representing  Mr.  Webster  in  the  Senate,  re- 
plying to  Mr.  Hayne,  which  hangs  at  the  end  of  the 
hall,  and  the  portraits  of  Washington  and  Faneuil.  The 
frames  were  entirely  concealed  by  black  cloth.  Mr. 
Ilealey's  picture  was  illuminated  by  lights  from  below, 
so  arranged  as  to  throw  their  full  force  upon  the 
figure  of  Mr.  Webster,  producing  a  striking  and  beau- 
tiful effect.  Under  this  picture,  the  words  "  WE  CLAIM 
HIM  FOR  AMERICA"  were  inscribed  in  gilt  letters.  Upon 
the  rostrum,  which  was  raised  and  extended  for  the 
occasion,  was  placed  a  marble  bust  of  Mr.  Webster  by 
Mr.  King.  It  stood  upon  a  pedestal  about  five  feet 
high,  and  excited  general  admiration.  On  each  side 
of  the  platform  were  displayed  small  American  flags, 
craped. 

Daylight  was  entirely  excluded ;  and  a  row  of  gas- 
burners  along  the  front  of  the  galleries,  two  on  the 
platform,  and  two  large  candelabra  of  candles  also  on 


230  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

the  platform,  supplied  its  place  with  a  calm,  subdued, 
yet  unnatural  light,  which  deepened  the  solemn  effect 
of  the  whole  scene.  The  spirit  of  silence  and  rever- 
ence pervaded  the  Hall,  so  that,  at  noon,  when  ladies 
were  admitted,  the  side  galleries  devoted  to  them  were 
filled,  with  little  sound.  Soon  after,  the  musicians  and 
singers  took  their  places  in  the  east  gallery,  adding 
to  the  picturesqueness  and  peculiarity  of  the  scene,  by 
moving  about  with  lighted  candles,  which  brought  out 
some  objects  and  made  shadows  deeper. 

At  a  little  before  two,  the  music  of  the  escort  was 
heard  approaching,  and  the  Marshals,  having  charge  of 
the  Hall,  ranged  themselves  at  the  door.  The  band  of 
the  Germanians  breathed  forth  Handel's  solemn  march 
in  Saul;  and  slowly,  as  if  entering  a  mausoleum,  the 
first  division  of  the  procession  came  in.  Gradually, 
noiselessly,  the  numbers  increased, — so  gradually,  that 
groups  stood  separately  a  moment  or  two  gazing  round 
at  the  unaccustomed  sight, — the  funeral  hangings, 
the  dim  galleries,  closely  filled  with  undistinguishable 
figures,  the  circle  of  lights,  and  that  majestic  form 
which,  from  the  canvas  even,  seemed  ready  to  speak  in 
words  of  wisdom  and  power.  Slowly  and  reverently 
the  multitude  increased.  The  rapid  rush,  the  noisy 
step,  the  loud  exclamation,  so  familiar  on  that  floor, 
were  wholly  absent.  The  entire  space  was  soon  filled, 
and  a  motionless  sea  of  heads  was  turned  to  the 
platform,  while  a  prayer  was  offered  by  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Lothrop.  The  Handel  and  Haydn  Society  then 
chanted  one  of  Handel's  anthems.  At  its  conclusion, 
the  eulogy  was  pronounced  by  Mr.  Hillard ;  and, 
after  a  benediction,  the  audience  dispersed. 


MR.    HILLAKD'S  EULOGY. 


CITY    OF   BOSTON. 

IN  COMMON  COUNCIL,  Dec.  2,  1852. 

Ordered,  That  the  thanks  of  the  City  Council  be  presented  to  the  Hon.  GEORGE 
S.  HILLARD,  for  the  eloquent,  impressive,  and  instructive  Eulogy  on  the  Life 
and  Services  of  the  Honorable  Daniel  "Webster,  late  Secretary  of  State  of  the 
United  States,  which  was  delivered  in  Faneuil  Hall  before  the  Government  and 
citizens  of  Boston,  on  the  30th  ultimo ;  and  that  he  be  requested  to  furnish  a 
copy  for  publication. 

Sent  up  for  concurrence. 

HENRY  J.  GARDNER,  President. 

IN  BOARD  OF  MAYOR  AND  ALDERMEN,  Dec.  4,  1852. 

Passed  in  concurrence. 

BENJAMIN  SEAVER,  Mayor. 
A  true  copy.  Attest. 

SAMUEL  F.  MCCLEARY,  JR.,  City  Clerk. 


EULOGY. 


IT  is  now  twenty-six  years  since  the  heart  of  the 
nation  was  so  deeply  moved  by  the  death  of  two  great 
founders  of  the  Republic,  on  the  fiftieth  anniversary 
of  the  day  when  its  independence  was  declared.  Then, 
for  the  first  time,  these  consecrated  walls  wore  the 
weeds  of  mourning.  Then  the  multitude  that  filled 
this  hall  were  addressed  by  a  man,  whose  thoughts 
rose  without  effort  to  the  height  of  his  great  theme. 
He  seemed  inspired  by  the  occasion,  and  he  looked 
and  spoke  like  one  on  whom  the  mantle  of  some  as- 
cended prophet  had  at  that  moment  fallen.  He  lifted 
up  and  bore  aloft  his  audience  on  the  wings  of  his 
mighty  eloquence.  His  words  fell  upon  his  hearers  with 
irresistible,  subduing  power,  and  their  hearts  poured 
themselves  forth  in  one  deep  and  strong  tide  of 
patriotic  and  reverential  feeling. 

And  now  he,  that  was  then  so  full  of  life  and  power, 
has  gone  to  join  the  patriots  whom  he  commemo- 
rated. Webster  is  no  more  than  Adams  and  Jefferson. 
The  people,  that  then  came  to  listen  to  him,  are  now 

30 


234  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

here  to  mourn  for  him.  His  voice  of  wisdom  and  elo- 
quence is  silent.  The  arm  on  which  a  nation  leaned  is 
stark  and  cold.  That  heroic  form  is  given  back  to  the 
dust.  We,  that  delighted  to  honor  him  in  life,  are 
now  here  to  honor  him  in  death.  One  circle  of  duties 
is  ended  and  another  is  begun.  We  can  no  longer 
give  him  our  confidence,  our  support,  our  suffrages ; 
but  memory  and  gratitude  are  still  left  to  us.  As  he 
has  not  lived  for  himself  alone,  so  he  has  not  died  for 
himself  alone.  The  services  of  his  life  are  crowned 
and  sealed  with  the  benediction  of  his  death.  So  long 
as  a  man  remains  upon  earth,  his  life  is  a  fragment. 
It  is  exposed  to  chance  and  change,  to  the  shocks  of 
fate  and  the  assaults  of  trial.  But  the  end  crowns 
the  work.  A  career  that  is  closed  becomes  a  firm 
possession  and  a  completed  power.  The  arch  is  im- 
perfect till  the  hand  of  death  has  fixed  the  keystone. 
The  custom  of  honoring  great  public  benefactors  by 
these  solemn  observances  is  natural,  just,  and  wise. 
But  the  tributes  and  testimonials  which  we  offer  to 
departed  worth,  are  for  the  living,  and  not  for  the 
dead.  Eulogies,  monuments,  and  statues  can  add  no- 
thing to  the  peace  and  joy  of  that  serene  sphere,  into 
which  the  great  and  good,  who  have  finished  their 
earthly  career,  have  passed.  But  these  expressions  and 
memorials  do  good  to  those  from  whom  they  flow. 
They  lift  us  above  the  region  of  low  cares  and  selfish 
struggles.  They  link  the  present  to  the  past,  and  the 
world  of  sense  to  the  world  of  thought.  They  break 
the  common  course  of  life  with  feelings  brought  from 
a  higher  region.  Who  can  measure  the  effect  of  a 
scene  like  this,  —  these  mourning  walls,  these  sad- 


EULOGY.  235 

dened  faces,  those  solemn  strains  of  music  ?  The  seed 
of  a  deep  emotion  here  planted,  may  ripen  into  the 
fruit  of  noble  action. 

A  great  man  is  a  gift,  in  some  measure,  a  revela- 
tion of  God.  A  great  man,  living  for  high  ends,  is 
the  divinest  thing  that  can  be  seen  on  earth.  The 
value  and  interest  of  history  are  derived  chiefly  from 
the  lives  and  services  of  the  eminent  men  whom  it 
commemorates.  Indeed,  without  these,  there  would  be 
no  such  thing  as  history,  and  the  progress  of  a  nation 
would  be  as  little  worth  recording,  as  the  march  of  a 
trading  caravan  across  a  desert.  The  death  of  Mr. 
Webster  is  too  recent,  and  he  was  taken  away  too 
suddenly  from  a  sphere  of  wide  and  great  influence, 
for  the  calm  verdict  of  history  to  be  passed  upon  him, 
and  an  accurate  gauge  to  be  taken  of  his  works  and 
his  claims.  But  all  men,  whatever  may  have  been  the 
countenance  they  turned  towards  him  in  life,  now  feel 
that  he  was  a  man  of  the  highest  order  of  greatness, 
and  that  whatever  of  power,  faculty,  and  knowledge 
there  was  in  him,  was  given  freely,  heartily,  and  faith- 
fully, during  a  long  course  of  years,  to  the  service  of 
his  country.  He,  who  in  the  judgment  of  all,  was  a 
great  man  and  a  great  patriot^  not  only  deserves  these 
honors  at  our  hands,  but  it  would  be  disgraceful  in  us 
to  withhold  them.  We,  among  whom  he  lived,  who 
felt  the  power  of  his  magnificent  presence,  —  his  brow, 
his  eye,  his  voice,  his  bearing,  —  can  never  put  him 
anywhere  but  in  the  front  rank  of  the  great  men  of 
all  time.  In  running  along  the  line  of  statesmen  and 
orators,  we  light  upon  the  name  of  no  one  to  whom 
we  are  willing  to  admit  his  inferiority. 


236  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

The  theory  that  a  great  man  is  merely  the  product 
of  his  age,  is  rejected  by  the  common  sense  and  com- 
mon observation  of  mankind.  The  power  that  guides 
large  masses  of  men,  and  shapes  the  channels  in  which 
the  energies  of  a  great  people  flow,  is  something  more 
than  a  mere  aggregate  of  derivative  forces.  It  is  a 
compound  product,  in  which  the  genius  of  the  man  is 
one  element,  and  the  sphere  opened  to  him  by  the 
character  of  his  age  and  the  institutions  of  his  coun- 
try, is  another.  In  the  case  of  Mr.  Webster,  we  have 
a  full  cooperation  of  these  two  elements.  Not  only 
did  he  find  opportunities  for  his  great  powers,  but  the 
events  of  his  life,  and  the  discipline  through  which  he 
passed,  were  well  fitted  to  train  him  up  to  that  com- 
manding intellectual  stature,  and  perfect  intellectual 
symmetry,  which  have  made  him  so  admirable,  so  emi- 
nent, and  so  useful  a  person. 

He  was  fortunate  in  the  accident^  or  rather  the 
providence,  of  his  birth.  His  father  was  a  man  of 
uncommon  strength  of  mind  and  worth  of  character, 
who  had  served  his  country  faithfully  in  trying  times, 
and  earned,  in  a  high  degree,  the  respect  and  confi- 
dence of  his  neighbors  —  a  man  of  a  large  and  loving 
heart,  whose  efforts  and  sacrifices  for  his  children  were 
repaid  by  them  with  most  affectionate  veneration. 
The  energy  and  good  sense  of  his  mother  exerted  a 
strong  influence  upon  the  minds  and  characters  of 
her  children.  He  was  born  to  the  discipline  of  po- 
verty; but  a  poverty  such  as  braces  and  stimulates, 
not  such  as  crushes  and  paralyzes.  The  region  in 
which  his  boyhood  was  passed  was  new  and  wild, 
books  were  not  easy  to  be  had,  schools  were  only  an. 


EULOGY.  237 

occasional  privilege,  and  intercourse  with  the  more 
settled  parts  of  the  country  was  difficult  and  rare. 
But  this  scarcity  of  mental  food  and  mental  excite- 
ment had  its  advantages,  and  his  training  was  good, 
however  imperfect  his  teaching  might  have  been.  His 
labors  upon  the  farm  helped  to  form  that  vigorous 
constitution  which  enabled  him  to  sustain  the  im- 
mense pressure  of  cares  and  duties  laid  upon  him  in 
after  years.  Such  books  as  he  could  procure  were 
read  with  the  whole  heart  and  the  whole  mind.  The 
conversation  of  a  household,  presided  over  by  a  strong- 
minded  father,  and  a  sensible,  loving  mother,  helped 
to  train  the  faculties  of  the  younger  members  of  the 
family.  Nor  were  their  winter  evenings  wanting  in 
topics  which  had  a  fresher  interest  than  any  which 
books  could  furnish.  There  were  stirring  tales  of  the 
revolutionary  struggle,  and  the  old  French  war,  in 
both  of  which  his  father  had  taken  a  part,  with  mov- 
ing traditions  of  the  hardships  and  perils  of  border 
life,  and  harrowing  narratives  of  Indian  captivity,  all 
of  which  sunk  deep  into  the  heart  of  the  impressible 
boy.  The  ample  page  of  nature  was  ever  before  his 
eyes,  not  beautiful  or  picturesque,  but  stern,  wild, 
and  solitary,  covered  with  a  primeval  forest,  in  winter, 
swept  over  by  tremendous  storms,  but  in  summer, 
putting  on  a  short-lived  grace,  and  in  autumn,  glow- 
ing with  an  imperial  pomp  of  coloring.  In  the  deep, 
lonely  woods,  by  the  rushing  streams,  under  the  frosty 
stars  of  winter,  the  musing  boy  gathered  food  for  his 
growing  mind.  There,  to  him,  the  mighty  mother  un- 
veiled her  awful  face,  and  there,  we  may  be  sure,  that 
the  dauntless  child  stretched  forth  his  hands  and  smiled. 


238  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

We  feel  a  pensive  pleasure  in  calling  up  the  image 
of  this  slender,  dark-browed,  brightreyed  youth,  going 
forth  in  the  morning  of  life  to  sow  the  seed  of  future 
years.  A  loving  brother,  and  a  loving  and  dutiful 
son,  he  is  cheerful  under  privation,  and  patient  under 
restraint.  Whatever  work  he  finds  to  do,  whether 
with  the  brain  or  the  hand,  he  does  it  with  all  his 
might.  He  opens  his  mind  to  every  ray  of  know- 
ledge that  breaks  in  upon  him.  Every  step  is  a  pro- 
gress, and  every  blow  removes  an  obstacle.  Onward, 
ever  onward,  he  moves ;  borne  "  against  the  wind, 
against  the  tide,"  by  an  impulse  self-derived  and  self- 
sustained.  He  makes  friends,  awakens  interest,  in- 
spires hopes.  Thus,  with  these  good  angels  about 
him,  he  passes  from  boyhood  to  youth,  and  from  youth 
to  early  manhood.  The  school  and  the  college  have 
given  him  what  they  had  to  give;  an  excellent  pro- 
fessional training  has  been  secured;  and  now,  with  a 
vigorous  frame,  and  a  spirit  patient  of  labor,  with 
manly  self-reliance,  and  a  heart  glowing  with  gene- 
rous ambition  and  warm  affections,  the  man,  Daniel 
Webster,  steps  forth  into  the  arena  of  life. 

From  this  point  his  progress  follows  a  natural  law 
of  growth,  and  every  advance  is  justified  and  explain- 
ed by  what  had  gone  before.  For  every  thing  that 
he  gains  he  has  a  perfect  title  to  show.  He  is  borne 
on  by  no  fortunate  accidents.  The  increase  of  his  in- 
fluence keeps  no  more  than  pace  with  the  growth  of 
his  mind,  and  the  development  of  his  character.  He 
is  diligent  in  his  calling,  and  faithful  to  the  interests 
intrusted  to  his  charge.  His  professional  bearing  is 
manly  and  elevated.  He  has  the  confidence  of  the 


EL'LOGT.  239 

court,  and  the  ear  of  the  jury,  and  has  fairly  earned 
them  both.  His  business  increases,  his  reputation  is 
extended,  and  he  becomes  a  marked  man.  He  is  not 
only  equal  to  every  occasion,  but  he  always  leaves  the 
impression  of  having  power  in  reserve,  and  of  being 
capable  of  still  greater  efforts.  What  he  does  is  ju- 
dicious, and  what  he  says  is  wise.  He  is  not  obliged 
to  retrace  his  steps  or  qualify  his  statements.  He 
blends  the  dignity  and  self-command  of  mature  life 
with  the  ardor  and  energy  of  youth.  To  such  a  man, 
in  our  country,  public  life  becomes  a  sort  of  neces- 
sity. A  brief  service  in  Congress  wins  for  him  the 
respect  and  admiration  of  the  leading  men  of  the 
whole  Union,  who  see,  with  astonishment,  in  a  young- 
New  Hampshire  lawyer,  the  large  views  of  a  ripe 
statesman,  and  a  generous  and  comprehensive  tone  of 
discussion,  free  alike  from  party  bias  and  sectional 
narrowness.  A  removal  to  the  metropolis  of  New 
England  brings  increase  of  professional  opportunity, 
and  in  a  few  years  he  stands  at  the  head  of  the  Bar 
of  the  whole  country.  Public  life  is  again  thrust  upon 
him,  and,  at  one  stride,  he  moves  to  the  foremost  rank 
of  influence  and  consideration.  His  prodigious  powers 
of  argument  and  eloquence,  freely  given  to  an  admi- 
nistration opposed  to  him  in  politics,  crush  a  dan- 
gerous political  heresy,  and  kindle  a  deeper  national 
sentiment.  The  whole  land  rings  with  his  name  and 
praise,  and  foreign  nations  take  up  and  prolong  the 
sound.  Every  year  brings  higher  trusts,  weightier  re- 
sponsibilities, wider  influence,  until  his  country  reposes 
in  the  shadow  of  his  wisdom,  and  the  power  that  pro- 
ceeds from  his  mind  and  character  becomes  one  of 


240  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

the  controlling  forces  in  the  movements  and  relations 
of  the  civilized  world. 

To  trace,  step  by  step,  the  incidents  of  such  a 
career,  would  far  transcend  the  limits  of  a  discourse 
like  this,  and  of  all  places,  it  is  least  needed  here. 
Judging  of  him  by  what  he  was,  as  well  as  by  what 
he  did,  and  analyzing  the  aggregate  of  his  powers, 
we  observe  that  his  life  moves  in  three  distinct  paths 
of  greatness.  He  was  a  great  lawyer,  a  great  states- 
man, and  a  great  writer.  The  gifts  and  training, 
which  make  a  man  eminent  in  any  one  of  these  de- 
partments, are  by  no  means  identical  with  those  which 
make  him  eminent  in  any  other.  Very  few  have  at- 
tained high  rank  in  any  two  ;  and  the  distinction 
which  Mr.  Webster  reached  in  all  the  three  is  almost 
without  a  parallel  in  history. 

He  was,  from  the  beginning,  more  or  less  occupied 
with  public  affairs,  and  he  continued  to  the  last  to 
be  a  practising  lawyer  j  but,  as  regards  these  two 
spheres  of  action,  his  life  may  be  divided  into  two 
distinct  portions.  From  his  twenty-third  to  his  forty- 
first  year,  the  practice  of  the  law  was  his  primary 
occupation  and  interest,  but  from  the  latter  period 
to  his  death,  it  was  secondary  to  his  labors  as  a  legis- 
lator and  statesman.  Of  his  eminence  in  the  law  — 
meaning  the  law  as  administered  in  the  ordinary  tri- 
bunals of  the  country,  without  reference,  for  the  pre- 
sent, to  constitutional  questions  —  there  is  but  one 
opinion  among  competent  judges.  Some  may  have 
excelled  him  in  a  single  faculty  or  accomplishment, 
but  in  the  combination  of  qualities  which  the  law 
requires,  no  man  of  his  time  was  on  the  whole  equal 


EULOGY.  241 

to  him.  He  was  a  safe  counsellor  and  a  powerful 
advocate ;  thorough  in  the  preparation  of  causes  and 
judicious  in  the  management  of  them ;  quick,  far- 
seeing,  cautious,  and  bold.  His  addresses  to  the  jury 
were  simple,  manly,  and  direct ;  presenting  the  strong 
points  of  the  case  in  a  strong  way,  appealing  to 
the  reason  and  the  conscience,  and  not  to  passions 
and  prejudices  ;  and  never  weakened  by  over-state- 
ment. He  laid  his  own  mind  fairly  along-side  that 
of  the  jury,  and  won  their  confidence  by  his  sincere 
way  of  dealing  with  them.  He  had  the  wisdom  to  cease 
speaking  when  he  had  come  to  an  end.  His  most 
conspicuous  power  was  his  clearness  of  statement.  He 
threw  upon  every  subject  a  light  like  that  of  the  sun 
at  noonday.  His  mind,  by  an  unerring  instinct,  sepa- 
rated the  important  from  the  unimportant  facts  in  a 
complicated  case,  and  so  presented  the  former,  that  he 
was  really  making  a  powerful  and  persuasive  argu- 
ment, when  he  seemed  to  be  only  telling  a  plain 
story  in  a  plain  way.  The  transparency  of  the  stream 
veiled  its  depth ;  and  its  depth  concealed  its  rapid 
flow.  His  legal  learning  was  accurate  and  perfectly 
at  command,  and  he  had  made  himself  master  of  some 
difficult  branches  of  law,  such  as  special  pleading  and 
the  law  of  real  property,  but  the  memory  of  some  of 
his  contemporaries  was  more  richly  stored  with  cases. 
From  his  remarkable  powers  of  generalization,  his  ele- 
mentary reading  had  filled  his  mind  with  principles, 
and  he  examined  the  questions  that  arose,  by  the 
light  of  these  principles,  and  then  sought  in  the  books 
for  cases  to  confirm  the  views  which  he  had  reached 
by  reflection.  He  never  resorted  to  stratagems  and 

31 


242  WEBSTER 'MEMORIAL. 

surprises,  nor  did  he  let  his  zeal  for  his  client  run 
away  with  his  self-respect.  His  judgment  was  so 
clear,  and  his  moral  sense  so  strong,  that  he  never 
could  help  discriminating  between  a  good  cause  and 
a  bad  one ;  nor  betraying  to  a  close  observer  when 
he  was  arguing  against  what  was  his  own  judgment 
of  his  case.  His  manner  was  admirable,  especially  for 
its  repose,  an  effective  quality  in  an  advocate,  from 
the  consciousness  of  strength  which  it  implies.  The 
uniform  respect  with  which  he  treated  the  bench 
should  not  be  omitted,  in  summing  up  his  merits 
as  a  lawyer. 

The  exclusive  practice  of  the  law  is  not  held  to  be 
the  best  preparation  for  public  life.  Not  only  does 
it  invigorate  without  expanding  —  not  only  does  it 
narrow  at  the  same  time  that  it  sharpens  —  but  the 
custom,  of  addressing  juries  begets  a  habit  of  over- 
statement, which  is  a  great  defect  in  a  public  speaker, 
and  the  mind,  that  is  constantly  occupied  in  looking 
at  one  side  of  a  disputed  question,  is  apt  to  forget 
that  it  has  two.  Great  minds  triumph  over  these 
influences,  but  it  is  because  they  never  fail,  sooner 
or  later,  to  overleap  the  formal  barriers  of  the  law. 
Had  Mr.  Webster  been  born  in  England,  and  edu- 
cated to  the  bar,  his  powyers  could  never  have  been 
confined  to  Westminster  Hall.  He  would  have  been 
taken  up  and  borne  into  Parliament  by  an  irresistible 
tide  of  public  opinion.  Born  where  he  was,  it  would 
have  been  the  greatest  of  misfortunes,  if  he  had  nar- 
rowed his  mind  and  given  up  to  his  clients  the 
genius  that  was  meant  for  the  whole  country  and  all 
time.  Admirably  as  he  put  a  case  to  the  jury,  or 


EULOGY.  243 

argued  it  to  the  court,  it  was  impossible  not  to  feel 
that  in  many  instances  an  inferior  person  would  have 
done  it  nearly  or  quite  as  well ;  and  sometimes  the 
disproportion  between  the  man  and  the  work  was  so 
great,  that  it  reminded  one  of  the  task  given  to 
Michael  Angelo,  to  make  a  statue  of  snow. 

His  advancing  reputation,  however,  soon  led  him 
into  a  class  of  cases,  the  peculiar  growth  of  the  insti- 
tutions of  his  country,  and  admirably  fitted  to  train  a 
lawyer  for  public  life,  because,  though  legal  in  their 
form,  they  involve  great  questions  of  politics  and  go- 
vernment. The  system  under  which  we  live  is,  in 
many  respects,  without  a  precedent.  Singularly  com- 
plicated in  its  arrangements,  embracing  a  general  go- 
vernment of  limited  and  delegated  powers,  organized 
by  an  interfusion  of  separate  sovereignties,  all  with 
written  constitutions  to  be  interpreted  and  reconciled, 
the  imperfection  of  human  language  and  the  strength 
of  human  passion,  leaving  a  wide  margin  for  warring 
opinions,  it  is  obvious  to  any  person  of  political  ex- 
perience, that  many  grave  questions,  both  of  construc- 
tion and  conflicting  jurisdiction,  must  arise,  requiring 
wisdom  and  authority  for  their  adjustment.  Especially 
must  this  be  the  case  in  a  country  like  ours,  of  such 
great  extent,  with  such  immense  material  resources, 
and  inhabited  by  so  enterprising  and  energetic  a  peo- 
ple. It  was  a  fortunate,  may  we  not  say  a  providen- 
tial circumstance,  that  the  growth  of  the  country 
begun  to  devolve  upon  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  the  consideration  of  this  class  of  ques- 
tions, just  at  the  time  when  Mr.  Webster,  in  his  ripe 
manhood,  was  able  to  give  them  the  benefit  of  his 


244  WEBSTER    MEMORIAL. 

extraordinary  powers  of  argument  and  analysis.  Pre- 
vious to  the  Dartmouth  College  case,  in  1818,  not 
many  important  constitutional  questions  had  come  be- 
fore the  court>  and,  since  that  time,  the  great  lawyer, 
who  then 'broke  upon  them  with  so  astonishing  a  blaze 
of  learning  and  logic,  has  exerted  a  commanding  in- 
fluence in  shaping  that  system  of  constitutional  law — 
almost  a  supplementary  Constitution  —  which  has  con- 
tributed so  much  to  our  happiness  and  prosperity. 
Great  as  is  our  debt  of  gratitude  to  such  judges  as 
Marshall  and  Story,  it  is  hardly  less  great  to  such  a 
lawyer  as  Mr.  Webster.  None  would  have  been  more 
ready  than  these  eminent  magistrates,  to  acknowledge 
the  assistance  they  had  derived  from  his  masterly  ar- 
guments. 

In  the  discussion  of  constitutional  questions,  the 
mind  of  this  great  man  found  a  most  congenial  em- 
ployment. Here,  books,  cases,  and  precedents  are  of 
comparatively  little  value.  We  must  ascend  to  first 
principles,  and  be  guided  by  the  light  of  pure  reason. 
Not  only  is  a  chain  of  logical  deduction  to  be  fashion- 
ed, but  its  links  must  first  be  forged.  Geometry 
itself  hardly  leads  the  mind  into  a  region  of  more  ab- 
stract and  essential  truth.  In  these  calm  heights  of 
speculation  and  analysis,  the  genius  of  Mr.  Webster 
moved  with  natural  and  majestic  sweep.  Breaking 
away  from  precedents  and  details,  and  soaring  above 
the  flight  of  eloquence,  it  saw  the  forms  of  truth  in 
the  colorless  light  and  tranquil  air  of  reason.  When 
we  dream  of  intelligences  higher  than  man,  we  ima- 
gine their  faculties  exercised  in  serene  inquisitions  like 
these,  —  not  spurred  by  ambition  —  not  kindled  by 


EULOGY.  245 

passion  —  roused  by  no  motive  but  the  love  of  truth, 
and  seeking  no  reward  but  the  possession  of  it. 

The  respect  which  has  been  paid  to  the  decisions  of 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  is  one  of 
the  signs  of  hope  for  the  future,  which  are  not  to  be 
overlooked  in  our  desponding  moods.  The  visitor  in 
Washington  sees  a  few  grave  men,  in  an  unpretend- 
ing room,  surrounded  by  none  of  the  symbols  of  com- 
mand. Some  one  of  them,  in  a  quiet  voice,  reads  an 
opinion  in  which  the  conflicting  rights  of  sovereign 
States  are  weighed  and  adjusted,  and  questions,  such 
as  have  generally  led  to  exhausting  wars,  are  settled 
by  the  light  of  reason  and  justice.  This  judgment 
goes  forth,  backed  by  no  armed  force,  but  commended 
by  the  moral  and  intellectual  authority  of  the  tribunal 
which  pronounces  it.  It  falls  upon  the  waves  of  con- 
troversy with  reconciling,  subduing  power;  and  haughty 
sovereignties,  as  at  the  voice  of  some  superior  intelli- 
gence, put  off  the  mood  of  conflict  and  defiance,  and 
yield  a  graceful  obedience  to  the  calm  decrees  of  cen- 
tral justice.  There  is  more  cause  for  national  pride 
in  the  deference  paid  to  the  decisions  of  this  august 
tribunal,  than  in  all  our  material  triumphs ;  and  so 
long  as  our  people  are  thus  loyal  to  reason  and  sub- 
missive to  law,  it  is  a  weakness  to  despair. 

The  Dartmouth  College  case,  which  has  been  al- 
ready mentioned,  may  be  briefly  referred  to  again, 
since  it  forms  an  important  era  in  Mr.  Webster's  life. 
His  argument  in  that  case  stands  out  among  his  other 
arguments,  as  his  speech  in  reply  to  Mr.  Hayne, 
among  his  other  speeches.  No  better  argument  lias 
been  spoken  in  the  English  tongue  in  the  memory 


246  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

of  any  living  man,  nor  is  the  child  that  is  born  to- 
day likely  to  live  to  hear  a  better.  Its  learning  is 
ample,  but  not  ostentatious ;  its  logic  irresistible ;  its 
eloquence  vigorous  and  lofty.  I  have  often  heard  my 
revered  and  beloved  friend,  Judge  Story,  speak  with 
great  animation  of  the  effect  he  then  produced  upon 
the  court.  "  For  the  first  hour,"  said  he,  "  we  listened 
to  him  with  perfect  astonishment;  for  the  second  hour, 
with  perfect  delight ;  and  for  the  third  hour,  with  per- 
fect conviction."  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  he 
entered  the  court  on  that  day  a  comparatively  un- 
known name,  and  left  it  with  no  rival  but  Pinkney. 
All  the  words  he  spoke  on  that  occasion  have  not 
been  recorded.  When  he  had  exhausted  the  resources 
of  learning  and  logic,  his  mind  passed  naturally  and 
simply  into  a  strain  of  feeling  not  common  to  the 
place.  Old  recollections  and  early  associations  came 
over  him,  and  the  vision  of  his  youth  rose  up.  The 
genius  of  the  institution  where  he  was  nurtured  seem- 
ed standing  by  his  side  in  weeds  of  mourning,  with 
a  countenance  of  sorrow.  With  suffused  eyes,  and  fal- 
tering voice,  he  broke  into  an  unpremeditated  strain 
of  emotion,  so  strong  and  so  deep,  that  all  who  heard 
him  were  borne  along  with  it.  Heart  answered  to 
heart  as  he  spoke,  and,  when  he  ceased,  the  silence 
and  tears  of  the  impassive  Bench,  as  well  as  of  the 
excited  audience,  were  a  tribute  to  the  truth  and 
power  of  the  feeling  by  which  he  had  been  inspired. 

With  his  election  to  Congress,  from  the  city  of  Bos- 
ton, in  1822,  the  great  labors  and  triumphs  of  his 
life  begin.  From  that  time  until  his  death,  with  an 
interval  of  about  two  years  after  leaving  President 


EULOGY.  247 

Tyler's  Cabinet,  he  was  constantly  in  the  public  ser- 
vice, as  Representative,  Senator,  or  Secretary  of  State. 
In  this  period  his  biography  is  included  in  the  history 
of  his  country.  Without  pausing  to  dwell  upon  de- 
tails, and  looking  at  his  public  life  as  a  whole,  let  us 
examine  its  leading  features  and  guiding  principles, 
and  inquire  upon  what  grounds  he  enjoyed  our  confi- 
dence and  admiration,  while  living,  and  is  entitled  to 
our  gratitude  when  dead. 

Public  men,  in  popular  governments,  are  divided 
into  two  great  classes,  statesmen  and  politicians.  The 
difference  between  them  is  like  the  difference  between 
the  artist  and  the  mechanic.  The  statesman  starts 
with  original  principles,  and  is  propelled  by  a  self- 
derived  impulse.  The  politician  has  his  course  to 
choose,  and  puts  himself  in  a  position  to  make  the 
best  use  of  the  forces  which  lie  outside  of  him.  The 
statesman's  genius  sometimes  fails  in  reaching  its  pro- 
per sphere,  from  the  want  of  the  politician's  faculty ; 
and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  politician's  intellectual 
poverty  is  never  fully  apprehended  till  he  has  con- 
trived to  attain  an  elevation  which  belongs  only  to 
the  statesman.  The  statesman  is  often  called  upon  to 
oppose  popular  opinion,  and  never  is  his  attitude  no- 
bler than  when  so  doing ;  but  the  sagacity  of  the 
politician  is  shown  in  seeing,  a  little  before  the  rest 
of  the  world,  how  the  stream  of  popular  feeling  is 
about  to  turn,  and  so  throwing  himself  upon  it,  as  to 
seem  to  be  guiding  it,  while  he  is  only  propelled  by 
it.  A  statesman  makes  the  occasion,  but  the  occasion 
makes  the  politician. 

Mr.    Webster    was    preeminently    a    statesman.     He 


248  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

rested  his  claims  upon  principles ;  and  by  these  he 
was  ready  to  stand  or  fall.  In  looking  at  the  endow- 
ments which  he  brought  to  the  service  of  his  country, 
a  prominent  rank  is  to  be  assigned  to  that  deep  and 
penetrating  wisdom  which  gave  so  safe  a  direction  to 
his  genius.  His  imagination,  his  passions,  and  his 
sympathies,  were  all  kept  in  subordination  to  this 
sovereign  power.  He  saw  things  as  they  are,  neither 
magnified,  nor  discolored  by  prejudice  or  prepossession. 
He  heard  all  sides,  and  did  not  insist  that  a  thing 
was  true,  because  he  wished  it  to  be  true,  or  because 
it  seemed  probable  to  his  first  inquiry.  His  post  of 
observation  was  the  central  and  fixed  light  of  reason, 
from  which  all  wandering  and  uncertain  elements  were 
at  last  discerned  in  their  just  relations  and  propor- 
tions. The  functions  of  government  did  not,  in  his 
view,  lie  in  the  region  of  speculation  or  emotion.  It 
was  "  a  contrivance  of  human  wisdom  to  provide  for 
human  wants."  The  ends  of  government  are,  indeed, 
ever  identical,  but  the  means  used  to  attain  them  are 
various.  The  practical  statesman  must  aim,  not  at  the 
best  conceivable,  but  the  best  attainable  good.  Thus, 
Mr.  Webster  always  recognized  and  accepted  the  neces- 
sities of  his  position.  He  did  not  hope  against  hope, 
nor  waste  his  energies  in  attempting  the  impossible. 
Living  under  a  government,  in  which  universal  suf- 
frage is  the  ultimate  propelling  force,  he  received  the 
expressed  sense  of  the  people  as  a  fact,  and  not  an 
hypothesis.  Like  all  men  who  are  long  in  public  life, 
under  popular  institutions,  he  incurred  the  reproach 
of  inconsistency ;  a  reproach  not  resting  upon  any 
change  of  principle  —  for  he  never  changed  his  prin- 


EULOGY.  249 

ciples, —  but  upon  the  modification  of  measures  and 
policy  which  every  enlightened  statesman  yields  to 
the  inevitable  march  of  events  and  innovations  of 
time. 

Nor  was  he  less  remarkable  for  the  breadth  and 
comprehensiveness  of  his  views.  He  knew  no  North, 
no  South,  no  East,  no  West.  His  great  mind  and 
patriotic  heart  embraced  the  whole  land  with  all  its 
interests  and  all  its  claims.  He  had  nothing  of  par- 
tisan narrowness  or  sectional  exclusiveness.  His  point 
of  sight  was  high  enough  to  take  in  all  parts  of  the 
country,  and  his  heart  was  large  enough  and  warm 
enough  to  love  it  all,  to  cling  to  it,  live  for  it,  or  die 
for  it.  Nothing  is  more  characteristic  of  greatness 
than  this  capacity  of  enlarged  and  generous  affections. 
No  public  man  ever  earned  more  fully  the  title  of  a 
national,  an  American  statesman.  No  heart  ever  beat 
with  a  higher  national  spirit  than  his.  The  honor  of 
his  country  was  as  dear  to  him  as  the  faces  of  his 
children.  Where  that  was  in  question,  his  great  powers 
blazed  forth  like  a  flame  of  fire  in  its  defence.  Never 
were  his  words  more  weighty,  his  logic  more  irresisti- 
ble, his  eloquence  more  lofty  —  never  did  his  mind 
move  with  more  majestic  and  victorious  flight,  —  than 
when  vindicating  the  rights  of  his  country,  or  shield- 
ing her  from  unjust  aspersions. 

It  is  a  hasty  and  mistaken  judgment  to  gauge  the 
merits  of  a  statesman,  under  popular  institutions,  by 
the  results  which  he  brings  about  and  the  measures 
which  he  carries  through.  His  opportunities  in  this 
respect  will  depend,  generally,  upon  the  fact  whether 
he  happens  to  be  in  the  majority  or  the  minority. 


250  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

How  much  would  be  taken  from  the  greatness  of  one 
of  the  greatest  of  statesmen,  Mr.  Fox,  if  this  test 
were  applied  to  him.  The  merits  of  a  statesman  are 
to  be  measured  by  the  good  which  he  does,  by  the 
evil  which  he  prevents,  by  the  sentiments  he  breathes 
into  the  public  heart,  and  the  principles  he  diffuses 
through  the  public  mind.  Mr.  Webster  did  not  be- 
long to  that  great  political  party  which,  under  ordi- 
nary circumstances,  and  when  no  exceptional  elements 
have  been  thrown  in,  have  been  able  to  command  a 
majority  in  the  whole  nation,  and  upon  which  the  re- 
sponsibility of  governing  the  country,  has  been  conse- 
quently thrown.  Thus,  for  the  larger  part  of  his  public 
life,  he  was  in  the  minority.  But  a  minority  is  as  im- 
portant an  element,  in  carrying  on  a  representative  go- 
vernment, as  a  majority ;  and  he  never  transcended  its 
legitimate  functions.  His  opposition  was  open,  manly, 
and  conscientious ;  never  factious,  never  importunate. 
He  stated  fairly  the  arguments  to  which  he  replied. 
He  did  not  stoop  to  personality,  or  resort  to  the  low 
and  cheap  trick  of  impugning  the  motives  or  charac- 
ters of  his  opponents.  He  has  therefore  fairly  earned 
the  respect  which  the  democratic  party,  to  their  honor 
be  it  spoken,  have  shown  to  his  memory.  He  was  a 
party  man,  to  this  extent  —  he  believed  that  under  a 
popular  government,  it  was  expedient  that  men  of 
substantially  the  same  way  of  thinking  in  politics 
should  act  together,  in  order  to  accomplish  any  gene- 
ral good,  but  he  never  gave  up  to  his  party  what 
was  meant  for  his  country.  When  the  turn  of  the 
tide  threw  upon  him  the  initiative  of  measures,  no 
man  ever  showed  a  wiser  spirit  of  legislation  or  a 


EULOGY.  251 

more  just  and  enlightened  policy  in  statesmanship. 
He  combined  what  Bacon  calls  the  logical  with  the 
mathematical  part  of  the  mind.  He  could  judge  well 
of  the  mode  of  attaining  any  end,  and  estimate,  at 
the  same  time,  the  true  value  of  the  end  itself.  His 
powers  were  by  no  means  limited  to  attack  and  de- 
fence, but  he  had  the  organizing  and  constructing 
mind,  which  shapes  and  fits  a  course  of  policy  to 
the  wants  and  temper  of  a  great  people. 

His  influence,  as  a  public  man,  extends  over  the 
last  forty  years,  and,  during  that  period,  what  is 
there  that  does  not  bear  his  impress  ?  Go  where  we 
will,  upon  land  or  sea  —  from  agriculture  to  com- 
merce, and  from  commerce  to  manufactures  —  turn  to 
domestic  industry,  to  foreign  relations,  to  law,  educa- 
tion, and  religion,  —  everywhere,  we  meet  the  image 
and  superscription  of  this  imperial  mind.  The  Ash- 
burton  treaty  may  stand  as  a  monument  of  the  good 
he  did.  His  speech  in  reply  to  Mr.  Hayne  may  be 
cited  as  a  proof  of  the  evil  he  prevented ;  and,  for 
this  reason,  while  its  whole  effect  can  never  be  mea- 
sured, its  importance  can  hardly  be  overstated.  Pro- 
bably no  discourse  ever  spoken  by  man  had  a  wider, 
more  permanent,  and  more  beneficial  influence.  Not 
only  did  it  completely  overthrow  a  most  dangerous 
attack  on  the  Constitution,  but  it  made  it  impossible 
for  the  same  attack  ever  to  be  renewed.  From  that 
day  forward  the  specious  front  of  nullification  was 
branded  with  treason.  If  we  estimate  the  claims  of 
a  public  man  by  his  influence  upon  the  national  heart, 
and  his  contributions  to  a  high-toned  national  senti- 
ment, who  shall  stand  by  the  side  of  Mr.  Webster  ? 


252  WEBSTER    MEMORIAL. 

Where  is  the  theory  of  constitutional  liberty  better 
expounded,  and  the  rules  and  conditions  of  national 
well-being  and  well-doing  better  laid  down,  than  in 
his  speeches  and  writings  ?  What  books  should  we 
so  soon  put  into  the  hands  of  an  intelligent  foreigner, 
who  desired  to  learn  the  great  doctrines  of  govern- 
ment and  administration  on  which  the  power  and 
progress  of  our  country  repose,  and  to  measure  the 
intellectual  stature  of  a  finished  American  man  ? 

The  relation  which  he  held  to  the  politics  of  the 
country  was  the  natural  result  of  a  mind  and  tem- 
perament like  his.  A  wise  patriot,  wrho  understands 
the  wants  of  his  time,  will  throw  himself  into  the 
scale  which  most  needs  the  weight  of  his  influence, 
and  choose  the  side  which  is  best  for  his  country  and 
not  for  himself.  Hence,  it  may  be  his  duty  to  espouse 
defeat  and  cleave  to  disappointment.  In  weighing 
the  two  elements  of  law  and  liberty,  as  they  are  min- 
gled in  our  country,  he  felt  that  danger  was  rather 
to  be  apprehended  from  the  preponderance  of  license 
than  of  authority ;  that  men  were  attracted  to  liberty 
by  the  powerful  instincts  of  the  blood  and  heart,  but 
to  law  by  the  colder  and  fainter  suggestions  of  the 
reason.  Hence,  he  was  a  conservative  at  home,  and 
gave  his  influence  to  the  party  of  permanence  rather 
than  progression.  But  in  Europe  it  was  different. 
There  he  saw  that  there  were  abuses  to  be  reformed 
and  burdens  to  be  removed  ;  that  the  principle  of 
progress  was  to  be  encouraged,  and  that  larger  in- 
fusions of  liberty  should  be  poured  into  the  exhausted 
frames  of  decayed  states.  Hence,  his  sympathies  were 
always  on  the  side  of  the  struggling  and  the  suffer- 


EULOGY.  253 

ing;  and,  through  his  powerful  voice,  the  public  opi- 
nion of  America  made  itself  heard  and  respected  in 
Europe.  It  is  a  fact  worthy  of  being  stated  in  this 
connection,  that  at  the  moment  when  a  tempest  of  ob- 
loquy was  beating  upon  him,  from  his  supposed  hosti- 
lity to  the  cause  of  freedom  here,  a  very  able  writer 
of  the  Catholic  faith,  in  a  striking  and,  in  many  re- 
spects, admirable  essay  upon  his  writings  and  pul ilk- 
life,  came  reluctantly  and  respectfully  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  Mr.  Webster  had  forfeited  all  claim  to  the 
support  of  Catholic  voters,  from  the  countenance  he 
had  given  to  the  revolutionary  spirit  of  Europe.  Such 
are  ever  the  judgments  of  fragmentary  men  upon  a 
universal  man. 

His  strong  sense  of  the  value  of  the  Union,  and 
the  force  and  frequency  with  which  he  discoursed 
upon  this  theme,  are  to  be  explained  by  the  same 
traits  of  mind  and  character.  He  believed  that  we 
were  more  in  danger  of  diffusion  than  consolidation. 
He  felt  that  all  the  primal  instincts  of  patriotism  — 
all  the  chords  of  the  heart  —  bound  men  to  their 
own  State,  and  not  to  the  common  Country ;  and 
that  with  the  territorial  increase  of  that  country,  it 
became  more  and  more  difficult  for  the  central  heart  to 
propel  to  the  extremities  the  life-blood  of  that  invigor- 
ating national  sentiment,  without  which  a  state  is  but 
a  political  corporation  without  a  soul.  He  knew  too, 
that  the  name  of  a  Union  might  exist  without  the 
substance,  and  that  a  Union  for  mutual  annoyance 
and  defiance,  and  not  for  mutual  aid  and  support, 
which  kept  the  word  of  promise  to  the  ear  and  broke 
it  to  the  hope,  was  hardly  worth  the  having.  Hence, 


254  WEBSTER    MEMORIAL. 

he  labored  earnestly  and  perseveringly  to  inculcate  a 
love  of  the  Union,  and  to  present  the  whole  country 
as  an  object  to  be  cherished,  honored  and  valued,  be- 
cause he  felt  that  on  that  side  our  affections  needed 
to  be  quickened  and  strengthened. 

As  was  to  be  expected,  so  powerful  a  man  could 
not  pass  through  life  without  encountering  strong  op- 
position. All  his  previous  experiences,  however,  were 
inconsiderable  in  comparison  with  the  storm  of  denun- 
ciation which  he  drew  down  upon  himself  by  his 
course  on  what  are  commonly  called  the  compromise 
measures,  and,  especially,  his  speech  on  that  occasion. 
It  was  natural  that  men,  whose  fervid  sympathies  are 
wedded  to  a  single  idea,  should  have  felt  aggrieved 
by  the  stand  he  then  took ;  and  if  decency  and  deco- 
rum had  governed  their  expressions,  neither  he  nor  his 
friends  could  have  had  any  right  to  complain.  But, 
in  many  cases,  the  attacks  were  so  foul  and  ferocious 
that  they  lost  all  claim  to  be  treated  as  moral  judg- 
ments, and  sunk  to  the  level  of  the  lowest  and  coars- 
est effusions  of  malice  and  hatred.  It  is  a  good  rule 
in  politics,  as  elsewhere,  to  give  men  credit  for  the 
motives  they  profess  to  be  actuated  by,  and  to  accept 
their  own  exposition  of  their  opinions  as  true.  Let 
us  apply  these  rules  to  his  course  at  that  time.  He 
had  opposed  the  admission  of  Texas,  and  predicted  the 
train  of  evils  which  would  come  with  it.  He  had 
warned  the  North  of  the  perilous  questions  with  which 
that  measure  was  fraught.  But  his  prophetic  voice 
was  unheeded.  Between  zeal  on  one  side,  and  apathy 
on  the  other,  Texas  came  in.  Then  war  with  Mexico 
followed,  ending  in  conquest,  and  leaving  the  whole 


EULOGY.  255 

of  that  unhappy  country  at  our  mercy.  Mr.  Webster 
opposed  the  dismemberment  of  Mexico,  provided  for  in 
the  treaty  of  peace,  on  the  ground  that  no  sooner 
should  we  have  the  immense  territory  which  we  pro- 
posed to  take,  than  the  question  whether  slavery  should 
exist  there,  would  agitate  the  country.  But  again  the 
warning  voice  of  his  wisdom  was  unheeded,  and  the 
storm,  which  he  had  predicted,  gathered  in  the  hea- 
vens. The  questions  against  which  he  had  forewarned 
his  countrymen  now  clamored  for  settlement,  and  would 
not  be  put  by.  They  required  for  their  adjustment 
the  most  of  reason  and  the  least  of  passion,  and  they 
were  met  in  a  mood  which  combined  the  most  of  pas- 
sion and  the  least  of  reason.  The  North  and  the  South 
met  in  "  angry  parle,"  and  the  air  was  darkened  with 
their  strife.  Mr.  Webster's  prophetic  spirit  was  heavy 
within  him.  He  felt  that  a  crisis  had  arrived  in  the 
history  of  his  country,  and  that  the  lot  of  a  solemn 
duty  and  a  stern  self-sacrifice  had  fallen  upon  him. 
As  he  himself  said,  "  he  had  made  up  his  mind  to 
embark  alone  on  what  he  was  aware  would  prove  a 
stormy  sea,  because,  in  that  case,  should  disaster  ensue, 
there  would  be  but  one  life  lost."  In  this  mood  of 
calm  and  high  resolve  he  went  forward  to  meet  the 
portentous  issue. 

It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  a  speech,  made  under 
such  circumstances,  going  over  so  wide  a  range  of  ex- 
citing topics,  should,  in  every  part,  command  the  imme- 
diate and  entire  assent  even  of  those  who  would  admit 
its  truth  and  seasonableness  as  a  whole.  It  is  also 
doubtless  true,  that  there  are  single  expressions  in  it 
which,  when  torn  from  their  context,  and  set  by  the 


256  WEBSTER    MEMORIAL. 

side  of  passages  from  former  speeches,  dealt  with  in 
like  manner,  will  not  be  found  absolutely  identical. 
But  the  speech  of  such  a  man,  at  such  a  crisis,  is  not 
to  be  dissected  and  criticized  like  a  rhetorical  exer- 
cise. It  should  be  judged  as  a  whole,  and  read  by 
the  light  of  the  occasion  which  gave  it  birth. 

The  judgments  wrhich  Mr.  Webster's  course  has 
called  forth,  were  widely  diverse.  By  those  who  hold 
extreme  views,  he  was  charged  with  expressing  senti- 
ments which  he  did  not  believe  to  be  true.  It  was 
"  a  bid  for  the  Presidency,"  and  his  conscience  was 
the  price  he  offered.  It  is  a  mere  waste  of  words  to 
argue  with  men  of  this  class.  Fanaticism  darkens  the 
mind  and  hardens  the  heart,  and  where  there  is  neither 
common  sense  nor  common  charity,  the  first  step  in  a 
process  of  reasoning  cannot  be  taken.  Others  main- 
tained that  he  was  mistaken  in  point  of  fact,  that  he 
took  counsel  of  his  fears  and  not  of  his  wisdom,  and, 
that  through  him,  the  opportunity  was  lost  of  putting 
down  the  South  in  an  open  struggle  for  influence  and 
power.  But,  in  the  first  place,  it  is  not  probable  that 
a  man,  who,  upon  subordinate  questions,  had  shown 
so  much  political  wisdom  and  forecast,  should  have 
been  mistaken  upon  a  point  of  such  transcendent  im- 
portance, to  which  his  attention  had  been  so  long  and 
so  earnestly  directed ;  and,  in  the  second  place,  the 
testimony  of  nearly  all  men,  whose  evidence  would  be 
received  with  respect  upon  any  similar  subject,  fully 
sustains  Mr.  Webster  in  the  views  he  then  took  of 
the  state  of  the  country,  and  is  equally  strong  as  to 
the  value  of  the  services  he  rendered.  In  such  an' 
issue,  the  testimony  of  retired  persons,  living  among 


EULOGY.  257 

books  and  their  own  thoughts,  is  not  entitled  to  any 
great  value,  because  the^  can  have  no  adequate  notion 
of  the  duties,  responsibilities,  or  difficulties  of  govern- 
ing a  great  State,  and  what  need  there  is  of  patience 
and  denunciation  in  those  who  are  called  to  this  high- 

o 

est  of  human  functions.  A  statesman  has  the  right  to 
be  tried  by  his  peers. 

It  is  curious  to  observe  how  hatred,  whether  per- 
sonal or  political,  when  it  enters  into  the  mind,  dis- 
turbs its  functions,  as  a  piece  of  iron,  in  the  binnacle 
of  a  ship,  misleads  the  compass.  Many,  who  have 
found  it  so  hard  to  forgive  Mr.  Webster  for  his  inde- 
pendence in  opposing  them,  would  admit  the  import- 
ance of  having  a  class  of  public  men,  who  will  lead 
the  people  and  not  be  led  by  them,  and  that  a  great 
man  is  never  so  great,  as  when  withstanding  their 
dangerous  wishes,  and  calmly  braving  their  anger. 
Their  eyes  will  sparkle  when  they  speak  of  the  neu- 
tral countenance  of  Washington,  undismayed  by  jaco- 
bin clamor,  and  of  the  sublime  self-devotion  of  Jay. 
It  is  strange  that  they  cannot,  or  will  not,  for  a  mo- 
ment, look  at  Mr.  Webster's  position  from  a  point  of 
view  opposite  to  their  own,  admit  that  he  may  have 
been  in  the  right,  and  see  him  clad  in  the  beauty  of 
self-sacrifice.  It  is  to  be  feared  that  this  form  of 
virtue  is  growing  more  and  more  rare,  as  it  is  more 
and  more  needed.  The  story  of  Curtius  leaping  into 
a  gulf  in  the  Roman  Forum,  in  order  to  save  his 
country,  is  but  the  legendary  form  in  which  a  per- 
petual truth  is  clothed.  In  the  path  of  time  there 
are  always  chasms  of  error  which  only  a  great  self- 
immolating  victim  can  close.  The  glory  has  departed 


258  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

from   the    land  in  which  that   self-devoting    stock   has 
died  out. 

Mr.  Webster  was  an  ambitious  man.  He  desired 
the  highest  office  in  the  gift  of  the  people.  But  on 
this  subject,  as  on  all  others,  there  was  no  conceal- 
ment in  his  nature.  And  ambition  is  not  a  weakness, 
unless  it  be  disproportioned  to  the  capacity.  To  have 
more  ambition  than  ability  is  to  be  at  once  weak  and 
unhappy.  With  him  it  was  a  noble  passion,  because 
it  rested  upon  noble  powers.  He  was  a  man  cast  in 
a  heroic  mould.  His  thoughts,  his  wishes,  his  passions, 
his  aspirations,  were  all  on  a  grander  scale  than  those 
of  other  men.  Unexercised  capacity  is  always  a  source 
of  rusting  discontent.  The  height  to  which  men  may 
rise  is  in  proportion  to  the  upward  force  of  their 
genius,  and  they  will  never  be  calm  till  they  have 
attained  their  predestined  elevation.  Lord  Bacon  says, 
"  as  in  nature  things  move  violently  to  their  place,  and 
calmly  in  their  place,  so  virtue  in  ambition  is  violent, 
in  authority,  settled  and  calm."  Mr.  Webster  had  a 
giant's  brain  and  a  giant's  heart,  and  he  wanted  a 
giant's  work.  He  found  repose  in  those  strong  con- 
flicts and  great  duties,  which  crush  the  weak  and 
madden  the  sensitive.  He  thought  that,  if  he  were 
elevated  to  the  highest  place,  he  should  so  administer 
the  government  as  to  make  the  country  honored 
abroad,  and  great  and  happy  at  home.  He  thought, 
too,  that  he  could  do  something  to  make  us  more 
truly  one  people.  This,  above  every  thing  else,  was 
his  ambition.  And  we,  who  knew  him  better  than 
others,  felt  that  it  was  a  prophetic  ambition,  and  we 
honored  and  trusted  him  accordingly. 


EULOGY.  259 

As  a  writer,  and  as  a  public  speaker,  upon  the  great 
interests  of  his  country,  Mr.  Webster  stands  before  us, 
and  will  stand  before  those  who  come  after  us,  as 
the  leading  spirit  of  his  time.  Sometimes,  indeed,  his 
discussions  may  have  been  too  grave  to  be  entirely 
effective,  at  the  moment  of  their  delivery,  but  all  of 
them  are  quarries  of  political  wisdom ;  for  while  others 
have  solved  only  the  particular  problem  before  them, 
he  has  given  the  rule  that  reaches  all  of  the  same 
class.  As  a  general  remark,  his  speeches  are  a  strik- 
ing combination  of  immediate  effectiveness  and  endur- 
ing worth.  He  never,  indeed,  goes  out  of  his  way  for 
philosophical  observations,  nor  lingers  long  in  the 
tempting  regions  of  speculation,  but  his  mind,  while 
he  advances  straight  to  his  main  object,  drops  from  its 
abundant  stores  those  words  of  wisdom  which  will  keep 
through  all  time  a  vital  and  germinating  power.  His 
logic  is  vigorous  and  compact,  but  there  is  no  diffi- 
culty in  following  his  argument,  because  his  reasoning 
is  as  clear  as  it  is  strong.  The  leading  impression  he 
leaves  upon  the  mind,  is  that  of  irresistible  weight. 
We  are  conscious  of  a  propelling  power,  before  which 
every  thing  gives  way  or  goes  down.  The  hand  of  a 
giant  is  upon  us,  and  we  feel  that  it  is  in  vain  to 
struggle.  The  eloquence  of  Burke,  with  whom  he  is 
always  most  fitly  compared,  is  like  a  broad  river, 
winding  through  a  cultivated  landscape ;  that  of  Mr. 
Webster,  is  like  a  clear  mountain  stream,  compressed 
between  walls  of  rock. 

But  his  claims  as  a  writer  do  not  rest  exclusively 
upon  his  political  speeches.  His  occasional  discourses, 
and  his  diplomatic  writings,  would  alone  make  a  great 


260  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

reputation.  His  occasional  discourses  rise  above  the 
rest  of  their  class,  as  the  Bunker  Hill  Monument  soars 
above  the  objects  around  it.  His  Plymouth  oration, 
especially,  is  a  production  which  all,  who  have  follow- 
ed in  the  same  path,  must  ever  look  upon  with  admi- 
ration, and  despair.  It  was  the  beginning  of  a  new 
era  in  that  department  of  literature.  It  was  the  first 
and  greatest  of  its  class;  and  has  naturally  fixed  a 
standard  of  excellence  which  has  been  felt  in  the 
efforts  of  all  who  have  come  after  him.  Its  merits  of 
style  and  treatment  are  of  the  highest  order,  and  it 
is  marked  throughout  by  that  dignity  of  sentiment 
and  that  elevating  and  stirring  tone  of  moral  feeling 
which  lift  the  mind  into  regions  higher  than  can  be 
reached  by  eloquence  alone. 

His  diplomatic  writings  claim  unqualified  praise. 
Such  discussions  require  a  cautious  as  well  as  firm 
hand ;  for  a  single  rash  expression,  falling  upon  an 
explosive  state  of  mind,  may  shatter  to  pieces  the 
most  hopeful  negotiation.  Mr.  Webster  combines  great 
force  of  statement  with  perfect  decorum  of  manner. 
It  is  the  iron  hand,  but  the  silken  glove.  He  nei- 
ther claims  nor  yields  a  single  inch  beyond  the  right. 
His  attitude  is  neither  aggressive  nor  distrustful.  He 
is  strong  in  himself,  and  strong  in  his  position.  His 
style  is  noble,  dignified,  and  transparent.  It  is  the 
"  large  utterance "  of  a  great  people.  I  know  of  no 
modern  compositions  which,  in  form  and  substance, 
embody  so  much  of  what  we  understand  by  the  epi- 
thet, Roman.  Such,  indeed,  we  may  imagine  the  state 
papers  of  the  Roman  Senate  to  have  been,  in  the 
best  days  of  the  Republic. 


EULOGY.  261 

His  arguments,  speeches,  occasional  discourses,  and 
diplomatic  writings,  have  all  a  marked  family  likeness. 
They  are  all  characterized  by  strength  and  simplicity. 
He  never  goes  out  of  his  way  to  make  a  point  or 
drag  in  an  illustration.  His  ornaments,  sparingly  in- 
troduced, are  of  that  pure  gold,  which  defies  the 
sharpest  test  of  criticism.  He  had  more  of  imagina- 
tion, properly  so  called,  than  fancy,  and  his  images 
are  more  grand  than  picturesque.  He  writes  like  a 
man  who  is  thinking  of  his  subject,  and  not  of  his 
style,  and  thus  wastes  no  time  upon  the  mere  garb 
of  his  thoughts.  His  mind  was  so  full,  that  epithet 
and  illustration  grew  with  his  words,  like  flowers  on 
the  stalk.  It  is  a  striking  fact,  that  a  man  who  has 
had  so  great  an  influence  over  the  mind  of  America, 
should  have  been  so  free  from  our  national  defects ; 
our  love  of  exaggeration,  and  our  excessive  use  of 
figurative  language.  His  style  is  Doric,  not  Corin- 
thian. His  sentences  are  like  shafts  hewn  from  the 
granite  of  his  own  hills  —  simple,  massive,  and  strong. 
We  may  apply  to  him  what  Quinctilian  says  of  Cicero, 
that  a  relish  for  his  writings  is  itself  a  mark  of  good 
taste.  He  is  always  plain;  sometimes  even  homely 
and  unfinished.  But  a  great  writer  may  be,  and  in- 
deed must  be,  homely  and  unfinished  at  times.  Deal- 
ing with  great  subjects,  he  must  vary  his  manner. 
Some  things  he  will  put  in  the  foreground,  and  some 
in  the  background;  some  in  light,  and  some  in  sha- 
dow. He  will  not  hesitate,  therefore,  to  say  plain 
things  in  a  plain  way.  When  the  glow  and  impulse 
of  his  genius  are  upon  him,  he  will  not  stop  to  adjust 
every  fold  in  his  mantle.  His  writings  will  leave 


262  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

upon  the  mind  an  effect,  like  that  of  the  natural 
landscape  upon  the  eye,  where  nothing  is  trim  and 
formal,  but  where  all  the  sweeps  and  swells,  though 
rarely  conforming  to  an  ideal  line  of  beauty,  blend 
together  in  a  general  impression  of  grace,  fertility, 
and  power. 

His  knowledge  of  law,  politics,  and  government  was 
profound,  various,  and  exact;  but  a  man  of  learning, 
in  the  sense  in  which  this  word  is  commonly  used, 
he  could  not  be  called.  His  life  had  been  too  busy 
to  leave  much  time  for  prolonged  scientific  or  literary 
research;  nor  had  he  that  passionate  love  of  books 
which  made  him  content  to  pass  all  his  leisure  hours 
in  his  library.  He  had  read  much,  but  not  many 
books.  He  was  a  better  Latin  scholar  than  the  ave- 
rage of  our  educated  men,  and  he  read  the  Roman 
authors,  to  the  last>  with  discriminating  relish.  A 
mind  like  his  was  naturally  drawn  to  the  grand  and 
stately  march  of  Roman  genius.  With  the  best  Eng- 
lish writers  he  was  entirely  familiar,  and  he  took  great 
pleasure  in  reading  them,  and  discussing  their  merits. 

To  science,  as  recorded  in  books,  he  had  given  little 
time,  but  he  had  the  faculties  and  organization  which 
would  easily  have  made  him  a  man  of  science.  He 
had  the  senses  of  an  Indian  hunter.  Of  the  know- 
ledge that  is  gathered  by  observation  —  as  of  the 
names  and  properties  of  plants,  the  song  and  plumage 
of  birds,  and  the  forms  and  growth  of  trees  —  he  had 
much  more  than  most  men  of  his  class.  His  eye  was 
as  accurate  as  his  mind  was  discriminating.  Never 
was  his  conversation  more  interesting  than  when 
speaking  of  natural  objects  and  natural  phenomena. 


EULOGY.  263 

His  words  had  the  freshness  of  morning,  and  seemed 
to  bring  with  them  the  breezes  of  the  hills  and  the 
fragrance  of  spring. 

Mr.  Webster,  both  as  a  writer  and  a  speaker,  was 
unequal,  and  from  the  nature  of  his  mind  and  tem- 
perament, it  could  not  be  otherwise.  He  was  not  of 
an  excitable  organization,  and  felt  no  nervous  anxiety 
lest  he  should  fall  below  the  standard  of  expectation 
raised  by  previous  efforts.  Hence,  he  was  swayed  by 
the  mood,  mental  or  physical,  in  which  each  occasion 
found  him.  He  required  a  great  subject,  or  a  great 
antagonist,  to  call  forth  all  his  slumbering  power.  At 
times,  he  looked  and  spoke  almost  like  a  superhuman 
creature ;  at  others,  he  seemed  but  the  faint  reflex  of 
himself.  His  words  fell  slowly  and  heavily  from  his 
lips,  as  if  each  cost  him  a  distinct  effort.  The  influ- 
ence, therefore,  which  he  had  over  popular  assemblies, 
was  partly  owing  to  his  great  weight  of  character. 

He  had  strong  out-of-door  tastes,  and  they  contri- 
buted to  the  health  of  his  body  and  mind.  He  was 
a  keen  sportsman,  and  a  lover  of  the  mountains  and 
the  sea.  His  heart  warmed  to  a  fine  tree  as  to  the 
face  of  a  friend.  He  had  that  fondness  for  agricul- 
ture and  rural  pursuits  so  common  among  statesmen. 
Herein  the  grand  scale  of  the  whole  man  gave  direc- 
tion and  character  to  his  tastes.  He  did  not  care  for 
minute  finish  and  completeness  on  a  limited  scale. 
He  had  no  love  for  trim  gardens  and  formal  pleasure 
grounds.  His  wishes  clasped  the  whole  landscape. 
He  liked  to  see  broad  fields  of  clover,  with  the  morn- 
ing dew  upon  them,  yellow  waves  of  grain,  heaving 
and  rolling  in  the  sun,  and  great  cattle  lying  down 


264  WEBSTER    MEMORIAL. 

in  the  shade  of  great  trees.  He  liked  to  hear  the 
whetting  of  the  mower's  scythe,  the  loud  beat  of  the 
thresher's  flail,  and  the  heavy  groan  of  loaded  wagons. 
The  sinell  of  the  new-mown  hay,  and  of  the  freshly- 
turned  furrows  in  spring,  was  cordial  to  his  spirit. 
He  took  especial  pleasure  in  all  forms  of  animal  life, 
and  his  heart  was  glad  when  his  cattle  lifted  up  their 
large-eyed,  contemplative  faces,  and  recognized  their 
lord  by  a  look. 

His  mental  powers  were  commended  by  a  remark- 
able personal  appearance.  He  was  probably  the  grand- 
est looking  man  of  his  time.  Wherever  he  went,  men 
turned  to  gaze  at  him ;  and  he  could  not  enter  a 
room  without  having  every  eye  fastened  upon  him. 
His  face  was  very  striking,  both  in  form  and  color. 
His  brow  was  to  common  brows,  what  the  great  dome 
of  St.  Peters  is  to  the  smaller  cupolas  at  its  side. 
The  eyebrow,  the  eye,  and  the  dark  and  deep  socket 
in  which  it  glowed,  were  full  of  power;  but  the  great 
expression  of  his  face  lay  in  the  mouth.  This  was 
the  most  speaking  and  flexible  of  features,  moulded 
by  every  mood  of  feeling,  from  iron  severity  to  the 
most  captivating  sweetness.  His  countenance  changed 
from  sternness  to  softness  with  magical  rapidity.  His 
smile  was  beaming,  warming,  fascinating;  lighting  up 
his  whole  face  like  a  sudden  sunrise.  His  voice  was 
rich,  deep,  and  strong;  filling  the  largest  space  with- 
out effort,  capable  of  most  startling  and  impressive 
tones,  and,  when  under  excitement,  rising  and  swelling 
into  a  volume  of  sound,  like  the  roar  of  a  tempest. 
His  action  was  simple  and  dignified ;  and  in  his  ani- 
mated moods,  highly  expressive.  Those  of  us  who 


EULOGY.  265 

recall  his  presence  as  he  stood  up  here  to  speak,  in 
the  pride  and  strength  of  his  manhood,  have  formed 
from  his  words,  looks,  tones,  and  action,  an  ideal 
standard  of  physical  and  intellectual  power,  which  we 
never  expect  to  see  approached,  but  by  which  we 
unconsciously  try,  not  only  the  greatness  we  meet, 
but  that  of  which  we  read. 

lie  was  a  man  more  known  and  admired  than  un- 
derstood. His  great  qualities  were  conspicuous  from 
afar ;  but  that  part  of  his  nature,  which  he  shared 
with  other  men,  was  apprehended  by  comparatively 
few.  His  manners  did  not  always  do  him  justice. 
For  many  years  of  his  life,  great  burdens  rested  upon 
him,  and,  at  times,  his  cares  and  thoughts  settled 
down  darkly  upon  his  spirit,  and  he  was  then  a  man 
of  an  awful  presence.  He  required  to  be  loved  before 
he  could  be  known.  He,  indeed,  grappled  his  friends 
to  him  with  hooks  of  steel,  but  he  did  not  always 
conciliate  those  who  were  not  his  friends.  He  had  a 
lofty  spirit,  which  could  not  stoop  or  dissemble.  He 
could  neither  affect  what  he  did  not  feel,  nor  desire 
to  conceal  what  he  did.  His  wishes  clung  with  tena- 
cious hold  to  every  thing  they  grasped,  and  from 
those  who  stood,  or  seemed  to  stand,  in  his  way,  his 
countenance  was  averted.  Some,  who  were  not  unwil- 
ling to  become  his  friends,  were  changed  by  his  man- 
ner into  foes.  He  was  social  in  his  nature,  but  not 
facile.  He  was  seen  to  the  best  advantage  among  a 
few  old  and  tried  friends,  especially  in  his  own  home. 
Then  his  spirits  rose,  his  countenance  expanded,  and 
he  looked  and  moved  like  a  school-boy  on  a  holiday. 
Conscious  that  no  unfriendly  ear  was  listening  to  him, 

34 


266  WEBSTER    MEMORIAL. 

his  conversation  became  easy,  playful,  and  natural. 
His  memory  was  richly  stored  with  characteristic  anec- 
dotes, and  with  amusing  reminiscences  of  his  own 
early  life,  and  of  the  men  who  were  conspicuous  when 
he  was  young,  all  of  which  he  narrated  with  an  ad- 
mirable mixture  of  dignity  and  grace.  Those  who 
saw  him  in  these  hours  of  social  ease,  with  his  armor 
off,  and  the  current  of  his  thoughts  turning,  gently 
and  gracefully,  to  chance  topics  and  familiar  themes, 
could  hardly  believe  that  he  was  the  same  man  who 
was  so  reserved  and  austere  in  public. 

But  it  may  be  asked,  had  this  great  man  no  faults  ? 
Surelv  he  had.  No  man  liveth,  and  sinneth  not.  There 

•/  f 

were  veins  of  human  imperfection  running  through  his 
large  heart  and  large  brain.  But  neither  men,  nor 
the  works  of  men,  should  be  judged  by  their  defects. 
Like  all  eminent  persons  he  fell  upon  evil  tongues ; 
but  those  who  best  knew  his  private  life,  most  honor- 
ed, venerated,  and  loved  him. 

He  was  a  man  of  strong  religious  feeling.  For 
theological  speculations  he  had  little  taste,  but  he  had 
reflected  deeply  on  the  relations  between  God  and  the 
human  soul,  and  his  heart  was  penetrated  with  a  de- 
votional spirit.  He  had  been,  from  his  youth  upwards, 
a  diligent  student  of  the  Scriptures,  and  few  men, 
whether  clergymen  or  laymen,  were  more  familiar  with 
their  teachings  and  their  language.  He  had  a  great 
reverence  for  the  very  words  of  the  Bible,  and  never 
used  them  in  any  light  or  trivial  connection.  He 
never  avoided  the  subjects  of  life,  death,  and  immor- 
tality, and  when  he  spoke  of  them,  it  was  with  un- 
usual depth  of  feeling  and  impressiveness  of  manner. 


EULOGY.  267 

Within  the  last  few  months  of  his  life,  his  thoughts 
and  speech  were  often  turned  upon  such  themes.  He 
felt  that  he  was  an  old  man,  and  that  it  became  him 
to  set  his  house  in  order.  On  the  eighteenth  day  of 
January  last,  he  had  completed  the  threescore  and 
ten  years,  which  are  man's  allotted  portion,  and  yet 
his  eye  was  not  dim,  nor  his  natural  force  much 
abated.  But  he  grew  weaker  with  the  approach  of 
summer,  and  his  looks  and  voice,  when  he  last  ad- 
dressed us  from  this  place,  a  few  months  ago,  forced 
upon  us  the  mournful  reflection  that  this  great  light 
must  soon  sink  below  the  horizon.  But  yet,  when 
the  news  came  that  the  hand  of  death  was  upon  him, 
it  startled  us  like  a  sudden  blow,  for  he  was  become 
so  important  to  us,  that  we  could  not  look  steadily 
at  the  thought  of  losing  him.  You  remember  what  a 
sorrow  it  was  that  settled  down  upon  our  city.  The 
common  business  of  life  dragged  heavily  with  us  in 
those  days.  There  was  but  one  expression  on  the 
faces  of  men,  and  but  one  question  on  their  lips. 
We  listened  to  the  tidings  which  came  up,  hour  after 
hour,  from  his  distant  chamber,  as  men  upon  the 
shore  in  a  night  of  storm,  listen  to  the  minute-guns 
of  a  sinking  ship,  freighted  with  the  treasures  of 
their  hearts.  The  grief  of  the  people  was  eager  for 
the  minutest  details  of  his  closing  hours,  and  he  died 
with  his  country  around  his  bed.  Of  the  beauty  and 
grandeur  of  that  death  I  need  not  speak  to  you,  for 
it  is  fixed  in  your  memories  and  deep  in  your  hearts. 
It  fell  upon  the  whole  land  like  a  voice  from  Heaven. 
He  died  calmly,  simply,  and  bravely.  He  was  neither 
weary  of  life,  nor  afraid  of  death.  He  died  like  a  hus- 


268  WEBSTER   MEMORIAL. 

band,  a  father,  a  friend,  a  Christian,  and  a  man;  with 
thoughtful  tenderness  for  all  around  him,  and  a  trem- 
bling faith  in  the  mercy  of  God.  He  was  not  tried 
by  long  and  hopeless  suffering;  nor  were  his  friends 
saddened  by  seeing  the  spirit  darkened  before  it  was 
released.  His  mind,  like  a  setting  sun,  seemed  largest 
at  the  closing  hour.  Such  a  death  narrows  the  dark 
valley  to  a  span.  Such  is  a  midsummer's  day  at  the 
poles,  where  sunset  melts  into  sunrise,  and  the  last 
ray  of  evening  is  caught  up  and  appears  once  more 
as  the  first  beam  of  the  new  morning. 

I  should  not  feel  that  my  duty  had  been  wrholly 
discharged,  did  I  not  speak  of  the  touching  simplicity 
and  solemnity  of  his  funeral.  In  his  will,  made  a  few 
days  before  his  death,  he  says,  "  I  wish  to  be  buried 
without  the  least  show  or  ostentation,  but  in  a  man- 
ner respectful  to  my  neighbors,  whose  kindness  has 
contributed  so  much  to  the  happiness  of  me  and 
mine,  and  for  whose  prosperity  I  offer  sincere  prayers 
to  God."  His  wishes  were  faithfully  observed,  and, 
in  the  arrangements  for  his  funeral,  there  was  no  re- 
cognition of  worldly  distinction  or  official  rank.  He 
was  buried  simply  as  the  head  of  a  household,  after 
the  manner  of  New  England.  But  the  immense 
crowds  which  were  there,  drawn  from  all  parts  of  the 
land  by  their  own  veneration  and  love,  formed  an 
element  of  impressiveness  far  above  all  civic  pa- 
geantry or  military  honors.  Who,  that  was  there  pre- 
sent, will  ever  forget  the  scene  on  which  fell  the 
rich  light  of  that  soft  autumnal  day.  There  was  the 
landscape,  so  stamped  with  his  image  and  identified 
with  his  presence.  There  were  the  trees  he  had 


EULOGY.  269 

planted,  the  fields  over  which  he  had  delighted  to 
walk,  and  the  ocean  whose  waves  were  music  to  his 
ear.  There  was  the  house,  with  its  hospitable  door ; 
but  the  stately  form  of  its  master  did  not  stand 
there,  with  outstretched  hand,  and  smile  of  welcome. 
That  smile  had  vanished  forever  from  the  earth,  and 
the  hand  and  form  were  silent,  cold,  and  motionless. 
The  dignity  of  life  had  given  place  to  the  dignity  of 
death.  No  narrow  chamber  held  that  illustrious  dust; 
no  coffin  concealed  that  majestic  frame.  In  the  open 
air,  clad  as  when  alive,  he  lay  extended  in  seeming 
sleep  ;  with  no  touch  of  disfeature  upon  his  brow ;  as 
noble  an  image  of  reposing  strength  as  ever  was  seen 
upon  earth.  Around  him  was  the  landscape  that  he 
had  loved,  and  above  him  was  nothing  but  the  dome 
of  the  covering  heavens.  The  sunshine  fell  upon  the 
dead  man's  face,  and  the  breeze  blew  over  it.  A 
lover  of  nature,  he  seemed  to  be  gathered  into  her 
maternal  arms,  and  to  lie  like  a  child  upon  a  mother's 
lap.  We  felt,  as  we  looked  upon  him,  that  death  had 
never  stricken  down,  at  one  blow,  a  greater  sum  of 
life.  And  whose  heart  did  not  swell,  when,  from  the 
honored  and  distinguished  men  there  gathered  toge- 
ther from  far  and  near,  six  plain  Marshfield  farmers 
were  called  forth  to  carry  the  head  of  their  neighbor 
to  the  grave !  Slowly  and  sadly  the  vast  multitude 
followed,  in  mourning  silence,  and  he  was  laid  down 
to  rest  among  dear  and  kindred  dust.  There,  among 
the  scenes  that  he  loved  in  life,  he  sleeps  well.  He 
has  left  his  name  and  memory  to  dwell  forever  upon 
those  hills  and  valleys,  to  breathe  a  more  spiritual 
tone  into  the  winds  that  blow  over  his  grave,  to 


270  WEBSTER    MEMORIAL. 

touch  with  finer  light  the  line  of  the  breaking  wave, 
to  throw  a  more  solemn  beauty  upon  the  hues  of 
autumn  and  the  shadows  of  twilight. 

But  though  his  mortal  form  is  there,  his  spirit  is 
here.  His  words  are  written  in  living  light  along 
these  walls.  May  that  spirit  rest  upon  us  and  our 
children !  May  those  words  live  in  our  hearts,  and 
the  hearts  of  those  who  come  after  us !  May  we 
honor  his  memory,  and  show  our  gratitude  for  his 
life,  by  taking  heed  to  his  counsels,  and  walking  in 
the  way  on  which  the  light  of  his  wisdom  shines ! 


3/c? 


THE  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

Santa  Barbara 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW. 


Series  9482 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  gRAJWW 


